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25
Jul
Harrogate hospital braced for disruption as resident doctors begin strike
Harrogate hospital has warned some appointments may need to be cancelled as doctors start strike action — but urged people requiring urgent care to continue to come forward.
Resident doctors — formerly known as junior doctors — start five-days worth of industrial action today in a dispute over pay.
The medics will stage a walkout from 7am on July 25 to 7am on July 30.
The move comes after the British Medical Association’s resident doctors’ committee called for a “credible pay offer" from the government.
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has warned that the strike will “likely” affect the trust and may see some appointments and elective surgery needing to be cancelled.
But, hospital bosses have urged people to continue to seek treatment as normal or dial 999 if they have a life-threatening injury or severe illness.
A statement from the trust said:
We understand this may cause our patients and their families to worry about how services will be delivered during this period. The safety of our patients is our primary concern and we have developed plans for the proposed action and its impact on our services, patients and staff. We are working hard to prioritise resources to protect emergency treatment, critical care, neonatal care, maternity, and trauma, and ensure we prioritise patients who have waited the longest for elective care and cancer surgery.
Patients should continue to attend appointments as planned unless contacted to reschedule. We will only reschedule appointments and procedures where necessary and any postponed appointments will be re-arranged as a priority. We appreciate this situation is frustrating for patients affected and apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Regardless of any strike action taking place, it is important to know that people with life-threatening or severe illnesses or injuries should continue to dial 999 and come forward as normal.
Resident doctors took part in 11 rounds of strike action between 2023 and 2024.
Members of the BMA’s resident doctors' committee reached an agreement on pay after the Labour government was elected in 2024, with resident doctors voting to endorse the deal in September of that year.
But resident doctors re-entered formal dispute with the government on April 9, and, according to the BMA, a recommendation made in a report by the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Renumeration to uplift doctors’ pay by 4% only “intensified their dissatisfaction”.
Co-chairs of the committee, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, said Mr Streeting "needs to come forward as soon as possible with a credible path to pay restoration".
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