NHS warns of disruption ahead of next week's junior doctor strikes

The strike, which will be the third taken by junior doctors, is due to take place from 7am on Wednesday, June 14, to 7am on Saturday, June 17.

Junior doctors make up about half of the medical workforce in England and the action will impact the area’s hospitals, mental health services, GP practices and other NHS services.

They are qualified doctors who have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.

Dr Dave Briggs, medical director at NHS Nottinghamshire, said: “Once again, we are working together to plan for the industrial action and doing everything we can to keep essential and emergency care services running.

“Junior doctors make up a huge portion of our workforce, so there will be significant disruption and waiting times in A&E will be much longer than usual.

“Please only attend A&E or call 999 if you are facing life-threatening injury or illness and use alternative services where possible, including 111 online, pharmacies or urgent treatment centres.

“If your relative is due to be discharged from hospital and needs to be collected, please do whatever you can to help bring them home as early as possible.

“This will help our teams to free-up a hospital bed for someone waiting to be admitted.

“Regardless of any strike action taking place, it is important that patients who need urgent medical care continue to come forward as normal, especially in emergency and life-threatening cases.”

Where the situation is not life-threatening, alternative support is available through NHS111 online, your nearest pharmacy or at urgent treatment centres.

If you have an appointment during this time, please attend unless you are contacted to say it has been postponed.

The NHS will contact you if your appointment needs to be rescheduled due to strike action.