South Tyneside hospital bosses issue advice ahead of latest junior doctor strike

The industrial action, held by the British Medical Association (BMA), will see junior doctors across the North East go on strike for 72 hours from 7am on Wednesday, June 14, until 7am on Saturday, June 17.

As a result, members of the public are warned that there will be disruption to frontline health services across South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust (STSFT) this week.

Ahead of the three-day strike, hospital bosses have been working to put plans in place to minimise the impact but they have confirmed that some appointments will be rearranged.

Dr Shaz Wahid, medical director at STSFT, said:  “We know that any disruption to patient care is frustrating and we have been working hard to minimise the impact of this. 

“Our essential services will be running as usual, but we do need to rearrange some non-urgent, routine appointments.

“Patients with planned appointments should attend as normal unless they are contacted directly by the Trust.

“We need local people in South Tyneside and Sunderland to be aware of the huge pressures that the NHS will be under this week, even more so than normal.

“Our services will be very busy, so please support us and think of using your local pharmacy and NHS 111 if you need urgent help or advice. 

“We also ask everyone to be kind to our staff who continue to work under significant pressure.”

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Patients will be contacted directly by the Trust if their appointment is affected by the strike action.

Anyone who has a planned appointment at the hospitals in South Tyneside and Sunderland should attend as normal unless they have received a text message or phone call to tell them otherwise.

Emergency and urgent care services will remain open during the strike; however, STSFT is asking the public to help ease the extreme pressures on emergency departments in South Tyneside and Sunderland.

Anyone who needs urgent case is being asked to use NHS11 online (www.111.nhs.uk) to be assessed and directed to the right care for them.

If you do not have internet access, then you should call 111 for free from any phone.

In the event of someone being seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk, then emergency care should be sought after in the normal way, by calling 999.