The NHS is urging Londoners to continue coming forward for care as thousands of resident doctors are expected to go on strike from today.
Industrial action began at 7am today (Friday 14 November) and will end at 7am on Wednesday 19 November. Hospital teams across London and the country are working round the clock to ensure disruption is minimised for patients.
Plans are in place to continue life-saving care as normal, while hospital chiefs have been told to keep routine operations going as much as possible – only rescheduling appointments in exceptional circumstances in the interests of patient safety.
NHS bosses are warning it comes at an already challenging time for the service as winter pressures, such as rising flu cases and staff absences, will have an impact.
During the last round of strikes in July, a robust approach by the NHS to preserve services saw over 10,000 extra patients receive their care compared to the previous five days of industrial action in summer 2024.
The NHS maintained the vast majority of operations, tests and procedures despite the disruption, as well as dealing with urgent and emergency cases.
Dr Chris Streather, Medical Director for the NHS in London, said: “It is disappointing that resident doctors are striking, and this industrial action will no doubt take a toll on patients and NHS staff in London, and across the country.
“We are doing all we can to limit the cancellation of appointments and patients should continue to use NHS services in the usual way. Londoners should attend their appointments unless told otherwise.
“Non-urgent medical help can be accessed through the NHS app, 111 online or your local pharmacist or GP. In a life-threatening emergency you should dial 999.”
Because of the predicted spike in flu directly after this period of industrial action, and its proximity to peak winter pressures, the NHS is approaching these latest strikes with a view of not just optimising performance during the next couple of weeks, but to ensure we plan to recover as effectively as possible over the subsequent weeks.
The public are advised to attend any planned appointments scheduled during the strikes unless they have been contacted to reschedule.
Primary and urgent and emergency care services will continue to be available for those who need them. The public should use 111 online as the first port of call for urgent but not life-threatening issues during industrial action so that they can be directed to the best place for their needs.
Patients who need emergency medical care should continue to use 999 or come forward to A&E as normal.
This latest action will be the 13th strike from resident doctors since March 2023, resulting in 54 days of disruption to NHS services.
Resident doctors, previously named junior doctors, make up around half of all doctors in the NHS and have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.
