Junior doctors in England will take industrial action for five days, starting this week, as announced by the British Medical Association (BMA). Junior doctors are doctors in our hospital who are not consultants or SAS (specialty and specialist) grades.
This action will affect Airedale NHS Foundation Trust and will last for 120 hours, from 7am on Thursday 13 July until 7am Tuesday 18 July.
This will be followed by industrial action by consultants, which will also affect Airedale NHS Foundation Trust. This will last for 48 hours from 7am on Thursday 20 July to 7am on Saturday 22 July.
These planned actions will cause a shortage of doctors and consultants over the respective periods, and we are working hard to provide your appointments and/or treatment as planned.
We will be in touch as soon as possible if we need to rearrange your appointment and/or planned treatment. If you don’t hear back from us, your appointment and/or treatment will be going ahead as planned, so please attend as normal.
We are sorry for any inconvenience potential rearrangements may cause.
Some of our services will experience disruption, and A&E is likely to be particularly affected.
What if I need urgent care?
It’s important that patients who need urgent medical care continue to come forward as normal, especially in emergency and life-threatening cases – when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk.
Please choose NHS services wisely – if you need medical help or advice, or you are unsure about whether you should go to hospital, go to NHS 111 online unless it is a life-threatening emergency when you should still call 999.
For more information on when to call 999 and when to go to A&E, you can visit the NHS UK website.
Mental health support will continue to be available throughout the bank holiday period. Visit https://togetherwe-can.com/mental-health/ for details of local services. For urgent help in a mental health crisis, call your local 24 hr helpline: Bradford 0800 952 1181.
Help us by being prepared
Make sure you’re prepared for this industrial action and any future periods of disruption. Double check that you and people you care for have enough repeat medication. Please order and collect repeat prescriptions in plenty of time.
Pharmacies can help give advice on a range of different illnesses, including coughs colds, UTIs, headaches, rashes and emergency contraception. Find a pharmacy near you.
Consider having at home a small stock of basic medicines for minor illness or injury. These may include paracetamol, plasters, indigestion remedy and anti-diarrhoeal medicine. See the NHS website for advice on what you should keep in your first aid kit.
