Resident doctors will take part in strike action from 7am on Wednesday, 17 December to 7am on Monday, 22 December. During this period consultants and specialty and associate specialist (SAS) doctors at Bradford Teaching Hospitals and Airedale Hospital will be working differently to ensure patient safety will be maintained during the period of action.
It is possible that some elective care treatments and outpatient appointments will be impacted. Please attend your appointment as normal unless we contact you to rearrange.
The NHS is asking patients to choose services wisely during the 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 continuing to only use 999 if it is a life-threatening emergency.
Our hospitals are extremely busy with high levels of flu and incidences of other infections such as norovirus, COVID and RSV. Therefore, we’re asking people not to visit the hospital if they’ve had any symptoms of a respiratory infection, diarrhoea or vomiting over the last 48 hours.
To help prevent the spread of the virus, our teams in clinical areas are wearing masks when caring for patients. You may be asked to wear a face mask in these areas to protect yourself, others and staff.
Saj Azeb, Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive at Bradford Teaching Hospitals, said:
The industrial action will reduce the number of resident doctors we have in our hospitals, and this will have a particular impact on our A&E department, especially as we are currently dealing with very high levels of flu and other winter viruses.
Throughout this week some elective care and outpatient appointments will be postponed and rearranged so that we can ensure we can continue to run emergency care services. Patients should attend any booked appointments unless they hear otherwise.
Leanne Cooper, Chief Operating Officer at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust added:
Our Emergency Departments are extremely busy and will be affected by the industrial action taking place, so it’s incredibly important that people only come to A&E if they are seriously unwell or injured.
We will do our best to minimise the impact on elective care and outpatient appointments and those affected will be notified. To help look after those who need emergency medical help, please use NHS 111 online as a first port of call for non-urgent medical advice. Remember 999 and A&E departments are for the most serious or life-threatening injuries or illnesses.