General practitioners, pharmacists and nurses are among the NHS workers called to help trusts deal with the strike next week, as hospitals are urged to deal with the massive strike.
The medical director of NHS England said the 96-hour non-emergency strike would cause an “unprecedented disruption” as some 250,000 appointments and surgeries were postponed. Some trust leaders were forced to cancel all advisory vacations to fill gaps in the lists created by the strike.
The strikes take place immediately after the Easter weekend and will last from 07:00 am Tuesday until Saturday morning, April 15th.
Trainee doctors said they are confident that emergency care will not be compromised, although they acknowledge the inevitability that many patients will be treated and surgeries delayed.
Trust leaders told NHS providers who represent the trust that hospitals are enlisting matrons, pharmacists, general practitioners, paramedics and other members of the community, as well as some non-patient contact trust staff such as radiologists and biochemists, to provide first aid. support -Staff this week. Additional support services were also offered to observers or temporary workers.
Ward leaders have been ordered to focus on sending medically healthy patients home and increasing emergency services from virtual wards and emergency care communities where possible. Weekend plans for both sides of the strike have been stepped up to try and close the inevitable backlog that will be created by the unprecedented four-day strike by the British Medical Association (BMA).
The union, which represents about 47,000 junior doctors, is campaigning for higher wages, citing a 26.1 percent cut in real wages since 2008. Achieving the target would require a 35.3 percent increase in wages, which Health Secretary Steve Barclay says is unrealistic.”
That’s what the ER doctor in the East Midlands told me. I: “We have been hard at work preparing for this week. You usually have “naked” staff on the weekends, especially on long weekends, but most hospitals have extra stand-ins deployed, so usage has probably been better in recent days as extra shifts have been offered. So it’s more like a staffing table.
“That’s good as we hope to reduce the number of patients, but it’s also a bit annoying as there were strikes these days to get normal staff. We should always have them, but because we don’t have enough staff, we don’t understand. It made me understand why we are taking these actions.”
A clerk who will stand on the picket line this week said union stewards are not putting undue pressure on staff during the 96-hour strike to cover up young doctors, but some people are being fired from secondees such as anesthesia – Placement and return to the intensive care unit. “But they would have worked that day anyway, it’s just a role reversal,” she said.
The employee said they “hoped” the emergency room would function normally, based on strikes last month when there was “no problem” with their trust.
“I am not afraid of harming ER patients who go to the hospital. Of course, it will be disappointing to see some people’s dates being canceled and we understand the impact this will have on some people, but unfortunately everything else we’ve done to try and get the government to do this isn’t working.
Over the weekend, Mr. Barclay escalated the dispute with the BMA by calling the union “militant.” Write to Sunday TelegraphThe Minister of Health said that any agreement with the union must be based on fairness.
“Claim more than eight times the wage increase that the Office of Accountability is predicting because inflation doesn’t seem to pass that test,” he said.
“Seems [the BMA] intend to remain militant rather than working with government and NHS leadership to serve the interests of their members and patients.
NHS England has announced that staff are being asked to prioritize emergency and emergency care to some of the usual practices and procedures to ensure safe care for people in life-threatening situations. The Department of Health added that appointments and surgeries would only be canceled “if necessary” and patients would be offered alternative appointments as soon as possible.
NHS England’s National Medical Director Prof Stephen Powys warned that the four-day strikes by junior doctors would put “tremendous pressure” on staff and services.
“The NHS was fully prepared for the next round of strikes, but coping with the added pressure doesn’t get easier as time goes on – it gets a lot harder, not only because of the sheer number of appointments that will have to be delayed. . but also that they need time to remix with multiple teams,” he said.
“This will be the most disruptive union action in the history of the NHS and Tuesday’s strikes will put enormous pressure on staff and services to extend public holiday holidays. Urgent, emergency and urgent care will have priority, but unfortunately some patients will be rescheduled – if not, please stay in touch.”
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.