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Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 31 March

April 2, 2023

This short film informs people of alternatives to A&E, which are Urgent Treatment Centres, their GP surgery, pharmacy services and NHS 111 Online.

We have been informed that we must prepare for a further, continuous four days of strike action by non-consultant grade doctors, starting on Tuesday 11 April.

It goes without saying that all of us, including doctors in training who are in dispute with the government regarding pay and conditions, hoped beyond hope, that this situation could have been avoided.  This forthcoming strike action will impact on services in a far more harmful way than the previous period of action.  The reasons for this are numerous:

  • There will be four days of strike action, not three.
  • The action is taking place after a long bank holiday weekend and will be followed by a further weekend, during which acute hospital services always “gum up” because our acute services do not yet run adequately, across seven days yet. (They will in the MMUH care model, by the way).
  • We will have a significant number of senior medical staff, senior clinical staff and leaders off on leave in what will be the second week of school Easter holidays.
  • The chances of getting the same amount of discretionary effort from senior staff to cover night shifts, as we did last time, will be reduced. Colleagues are exhausted, frustrated and under no obligation to provide said cover.
  • We have two emergency departments to run safely, with no option to close one or both of them.

On Friday afternoon, the executive team are meeting to establish a “critical incident” type command and control approach to manage the week in the run up to the strike, the bank holiday weekend and the first two “working” days after the strike.  We are considering a range of action, but some decisions have already been made about pay rates for medical staff, cancellation of all corporate and non-urgent clinical forums and the prospective cancellation of outpatient and elective activity.

I am under no illusions here.  This is going to test our ability to provide safe emergency and urgent care, to the very limit.  We all need to hope and indeed pray, that common sense will prevail and both parties negotiate a pay and conditions deal which allows us all to get back to doing what we are good at – namely providing the full range of acute and community services to our deprived and deserving population.

Have a good weekend.