COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Hospital chiefs preparing for industrial action next week say that some surgery may have to be cancelled as a result of the protests.



As reported in the News, the British Medical Association (BMA) has opted to hold a strike as a row over pay and conditions between the government and junior doctors escalates.

Now, bosses at the George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton says that it is implementing contingency plans to cope with the loss of staff - initially on Tuesday, and potentially on two other dates in January and February, however it will come at the cost of some 'elective' aka planned services.

The plans will see senior doctors come into cover their younger counterparts.

Hospital chiefs say they are also working to contact patients to let them know of any changes and/or cancellations ahead of Tuesday.

The Trust's director of operations, John Thompson said: "Following the British Medical Association ballot mandate to support the national Junior Doctor's campaign in relation to strike action, we will be operating an emergency only service on January 12 2016 from 8am for 24 hours.

"If it is not possible to agree terms at a national level following this industrial action, then further strike action is planned from 8am on January 26 until 8am on January 28 and again on February 10. We will have to restrict and possibly cancel some elective work to ensure we can safely maintain our emergency services including care of inpatients which must take priority.

"This will involve deploying senior and consultant medical staff to cover the duties normally undertaken by junior doctors. We will be in contact with patients beforehand to advise them if we need to cancel their appointment.

"We will do all we can to ensure appointments are rebooked as a matter of priority.

"Clearly, this will be a difficult period and we would encourage patients, where possible, to avoid attending A&E by using alternatives such as NHS 111, their GP, Out of Hours GP Services and the Walk In Centre at Camp Hill."

In November of last year, a ballot of junior doctors saw 98 per cent vote to strike.

Action planned for December 1 of last year was scrapped in the 11th hour with bosses at the Eliot announcing that no planned operations were cancelled, although a number of outpatient appointments were put back.