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25
Oct
Harrogate hospital braced for second resident doctors strike this year
Harrogate District Hospital is braced for its second resident doctors strike this year.
The British Medical Association confirmed that resident doctors — formerly known as junior doctors — will walk out for five days on Friday, November 14.
The union said it had announced industrial action after talks with government over pay, jobs and conditions broke down.
It is the second time that resident doctors have walked out this year after holding a five-day strike in July.
A spokesperson for Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust said it will be planning to minimise disruption on patients and staff, should the walkout go-ahead next month.
They said:
At present, we do not know if resident doctors at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust will be undertaking industrial action between 14-19 November, however, we are preparing for this eventuality.
As with previous strike action, we will establish a multi-professional strike planning team to develop plans to ensure essential services can be maintained on the strike days, and to minimise any impact on our services, staff and patients.
Should strike action occur, we will prioritise emergency care and keeping all our patients safe. This may result in changes to some of our outpatient and theatre services on the days of industrial action and we may have to cancel outpatient appointments and elective operations. Postponed appointments would be re-arranged as a priority.
Resident doctors have taken part in 13 rounds of strike action since 2023.
The last walkout in July saw 150 appointments rescheduled at Harrogate District Hospital. No operations were cancelled.
The latest round of industrial action comes as the BMA said no progress had been made in discussions with government over pay, jobs and conditions.
Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee, said:
This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with government, pressing the health secretary to end the scandal of doctors going unemployed — a situation which cannot go on.
Wes Streeting, health secretary, said in a post on X that the strikes were “unnecessary and irresponsible”.
He added:
My team and I have been talking to the BMA in good faith and are prepared to negotiate on jobs and conditions.
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