December industrial action by resident doctors
Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, will take part in strike action for five consecutive days from 7am on Wednesday 17 December until 7am on Monday 22 December.
We are working very hard to keep the disruption to urgent patients at a minimum, and to protect the safety, welfare and service provided to patients and service users. The industrial action will, however, have an impact on NHS services, and we ask the public to be aware of how to ensure they get the help they need during the industrial action.
Patients with appointments booked on industrial action days will be contacted if their appointment needs to be rescheduled. If you have not been contacted, you should still attend your appointment as planned.
Regardless of industrial action, please continue to seek urgent medical care if someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk.
Please choose services appropriately during industrial action and take simple steps to help ensure care is available to patients who need it most. This includes using 111 online as the first port of call for health needs, and only using 999 if it is a serious or life-threatening emergency. For more information on when to call 999 and when to go to A&E, you can visit the NHS UK website.
GP practices will continue to be open during the resident doctors industrial action. Please continue to attend your GP and dental appointments, unless you are contacted and told otherwise.