The East of England’s medical director is urging patients to continue coming forward for care despite five days of resident doctors’ strikes starting today.

Industrial action began at 7am Wednesday 17 December and runs until 7am on Monday 22 December, with hospital teams across the region working harder than ever to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum for patients.

The latest strikes come at the busiest time of the year for the NHS. Demand on the region’s health services is already high and on the rise, flu hospitalisations are climbing and health leaders warned as recently as last week of a “tough run up to the new year”.

Despite these pressures, plans are in place to continue life-saving care as normal, while hospitals are keeping as much routine care and scheduled operations going as possible – only rescheduling appointments in the interests of patient safety.

Members of the public are advised to attend any planned appointments scheduled during the strikes unless they have been contacted to reschedule.

Primary and urgent and emergency care services will continue to be available for those who need them. The public should use 111 online as the first port of call for urgent but not life-threatening issues during industrial action so that they can be directed to the best place for their needs.

Patients who need emergency medical care should continue to use 999 or come forward to A&E as normal.

During the strikes, there may be fewer doctors working than usual, and they will need to prioritise life-saving care so less urgent cases may experience longer waits.

Dr Edward Morris, Regional Medical Director for the NHS in the East of England, said:

“These latest strikes come at what’s the busiest time of the year for the NHS, putting further pressure on an already very busy service.

“With demand on the region’s A&E departments and ambulance services already very high, along with climbing flu cases in our hospitals, this will undoubtedly be an incredibly challenging period for our NHS – and is likely to impact patients too.

“Whilst some appointments will inevitably need to be rescheduled, teams will be working hard to maintain care and limit disruption as much as possible – so if you have an appointment between now and Monday, please attend as usual unless you have been contacted by the NHS and told otherwise.

“In an emergency you should still dial 999, and for anything else use 111 online, your local pharmacist or GP.”

This latest action will be the 14th round of strikes from resident doctors since March 2023, resulting in 59 days of disruption to NHS services.

Resident doctors, previously named junior doctors, make up around half of all doctors in the NHS and have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.

The NHS is asking the public to play their part during industrial action by looking after themselves, loved ones and checking in on vulnerable family members and neighbours, and by getting their flu vaccine if eligible and they haven’t already.

Vaccination remains the best defence against flu for children and adults, giving strong protection this year despite the emergence of a new flu sub-strain driving an unusually early flu season. Vaccination is the best protection against getting potentially very ill and also helps protect those around you.

Whilst NHS staff have vaccinated more people in the region against flu than this time last year, anyone eligible for a jab who has not yet had it is urged to book an appointment or visit a walk-in site as soon as possible to ensure maximum protection over the festive and new year period.