Hospital bosses at East Cheshire NHS Trust urge emergency-only visits to A&E during Junior Doctor strikes

Local residents are being urged to only visit A&E in an emergency whilst Junior Doctor strikes take place over the festive period.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has announced further rounds of strikes by Junior Doctors in December 2023 and early January 2024.

The first walkout is scheduled to take place from 7am on Wednesday 20^th December to 7am on Saturday 23^rd December, and this action is planned to be quickly followed by further strike action from 7am on Wednesday 3^rd January to 7am on Tuesday 9^th January.

The industrial action – coming at one of the busiest times of year for the NHS, will impact all East Cheshire NHS Trust sites including Macclesfield General Hospital, Knutsford District and Community Hospital, and Congleton War Memorial Hospital, and is likely to cause significant disruption.  

This means that, for striking staff, all work including nights, on-call shifts, and non-resident work will stop. The BMA has published this statement on their website.

Dr John Hunter, Medical Director for East Cheshire NHS Trust, said:

“We are working closely with partners to ensure appropriate plans are enacted to deal with this disruption.”

“We are also working closely with union representatives to maintain the safety and welfare of our patients during planned staff walkouts, and to ensure any impact on our services are minimised.”

“Junior doctors are an important part of the team and work in almost every part of a busy hospital, including in A&E, maintaining the flow of patients through the hospital and ensuring beds are available for those who need them the most.”

“During the upcoming industrial action over the busy festive period, we would like to urge local residents to only call 999 or attend our Emergency Department in a life-threatening emergency. Typical emergencies include cardiac arrest, loss of consciousness, fits that are not stopping, breathing difficulties, severe bleeding, allergic reactions and serious head injuries.”

For non-urgent concerns over the festive period, please seek help from NHS 111 online, or contact your GP and pharmacist.

The NHS will do everything it can to go ahead with planned procedures during industrial action - especially for patients in greatest clinical need. The NHS will also contact you if your appointment needs to be rescheduled. If you have not been contacted, please attend your appointment as planned.