NHS England » Information for the public on industrial action

British Medical Association (BMA), Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA), and British Dental Association (BDA) have announced Consultants, Junior Doctors, and dental trainees will take further strike action from 7.00am on Monday 2 October until 7.00am on Thursday 5 October. During this strike, BMA Junior Doctors and Consultants will take joint action and provide Christmas Day cover – this means that emergency care will continue to be available during the strikes.

Members of the Society of Radiographers (SoR) will also take strike action for 24 hours from 8.00am on Tuesday 3 October to 8.00am on Wednesday 4 October

We are now entering the eleventh month of industrial action across the NHS and staff continue to work hard to provide patients with the best possible care under the circumstances. Industrial action has impacted over a million hospital appointments across the NHS.

Previous round of industrial action by consultants and junior doctors in September saw over 120,000 hospital appointments disrupted and around between 8,000 and 26,000 staff off per day due to industrial action.

During the upcoming strikes, the BMA has committed to ensuring that emergency services remain in place with staffing levels in line with that in place on Christmas Day during strikes – both in terms of the number of doctors, and the places and departments they will be working in. This generally involves on-call teams covering wards, as well as staff in A&E working as usual; however elective and routine care will be disrupted.

Consultants are senior doctors who not only see patients but are responsible for supervising junior doctors and other staff. When consultants take strike action, they stop delivering care directly or providing supervision of the work of junior staff. Without supervision it may not be possible for some care delivered by junior doctors or other staff to take place safely.

Junior doctors make up around half of all doctors in the NHS. Junior doctors are qualified doctors who 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 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. We will only reschedule appointments and procedures where necessary and will rebook immediately, where possible. Unfortunately, these strikes will have a significant impact upon planned and routine care.

If we have not contacted you, please attend your appointment as planned. The NHS will contact you if your appointment needs to be rescheduled due to strike action.

GP practices will continue to be open during the consultant and junior doctors strike. Please continue to attend your GP and dental appointments unless you are contacted and told otherwise.

Ahead of industrial action, please read the following advice if you are travelling to other parts of the country:

If you’re staying in England and are away from home and need a GP appointment for routine treatment, please call your own surgery. Your surgery is used to helping by phone, video, and email. And if you need a prescription, they can send it to any pharmacy you choose.
Make sure you have enough of your prescribed medications. You can easily order repeat prescriptions via the NHS App, though your GP practice website or, if you do not have access to GP online services, by calling your GP practice.
Ensure you have a fully stocked first aid kit at home or with you. Find out what you need on the NHS.UK website.

Regardless of any strike action taking place, it is really important that patients who need urgent medical care continue to come forward as normal, especially in emergency and life-threatening cases – when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk.

If you need medical help or advice, or you are unsure about whether you should go to hospital, go to NHS 111 online unless it is a life-threatening emergency when you should still call 999.

Patients should take advice from 111/999 call-handlers on whether there are circumstances where it is suitable for them to make their own way to hospital. During strike days, it is likely 999 and 111 call handlers will be very busy, this may mean longer call response times. As a result, we are urging anyone with non-urgent care need to first seek help from NHS 111 online.

For more information on when to call 999 and when to go to A&E, you can visit the NHS UK website.

The NHS is also asking the public to play their part by taking simple steps during industrial action to look after themselves, loved ones and checking in on vulnerable family members and neighbours.

Frequently asked questions

What is happening?

Trade unions representing some NHS staff are in dispute with the Government over the 2022/23 pay award. A number of the unions have balloted their NHS members to take part in industrial action. As a result, members of the following unions are striking on the dates listed below:

2 October – from 7.00am, BMA and BDA Consultants, HSCA and BMA junior doctors, and BDA dental trainees out on strike
3 October – all day, BMA and BDA Consultants, HSCA and BMA junior doctors, and BDA dental trainees on strike. Society of Radiographers (SoR)* out on strike from 8.00am
4 October – all day, BMA and BDA Consultants, HSCA and BMA junior doctors, and BDA dental trainees. SoR members on strike until 0800
5 October – until 7.00am, BMA and BDA Consultants, HSCA and BMA junior doctors, and BDA dental trainees on strike

*SoR mandate in 37 trusts across England.

What do strikes mean for NHS services in my area?

Not every hospital and ambulance service will be affected by strike action. You can check which trusts are affected on each trade union’s website:

What if I need urgent or emergency care?

Anyone who needs urgent care should use NHS111 online to be assessed and directed to the right care for them. If you do not have internet access, then the 111 helpline is available. When someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk, you should seek emergency care in the normal way, by calling 999.

What is Christmas day cover?

Christmas Day cover is to ensure a safe level of staffing is available on strike days. This level of staffing means that staffing and services would be what you would expect to be working on Christmas Day. This generally involves on-call teams providing care on wards, as well as staff in A&E working as usual. Christmas Day cover allows the NHS to provide emergency care however it means elective and routine care will be severely disrupted. NHS trusts to are planning for a higher level of demand than would be the case over the festive period.

What about care that is not urgent?

Some routine and elective care will be severely disrupted, and we will look to re-book this care as soon as possible. However, there are some types of care that, while not immediately life threatening, cannot be delayed during prolonged periods of industrial action. Trusts are looking to ensure that planning reflects the total period of disruption and that patients requiring urgent and emergency treatment continue to receive this. This includes things like the regular senior review and management of hospital inpatients and the continued delivery of time-critical care including emergency (P1 – that cannot be delayed beyond 72hrs) and urgent treatment (P2 – that cannot be delayed beyond 4 weeks) to all patients.

Can the NHS provide safe services during strikes?

The NHS is working hard to minimise the risk to patient safety. This means we will 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.

BMA has said that during consultant and junior doctor strikes a Christmas day level of service will be provided meaning emergency care will still be provided.

We will only reschedule appointments and procedures where it is necessary and will rebook immediately, where possible. Unfortunately, these strikes will have a significant impact upon planned and routine care.

What will this mean for appointments?

During strike action we will prioritise emergency treatment and patients seeking urgent treatment will be seen. Unfortunately, this means we may have to prioritise emergency care over some routine appointments and procedures. Everyone who has an appointment should attend as planned unless your local NHS provider has contacted you to reschedule. If we have not contacted you, please attend your appointment even if your Trust is affected by strikes.

Will emergency care be affected on strike days?

Emergency care will continue to be available across all parts of the country. It is really important that in emergency and life-threatening cases – when someone is seriously ill, or their life is at risk patients continue to come forward as normal.

When will I find out if my appointment is rescheduled?

The NHS will contact you if your appointment needs to be rescheduled due to strike action. This is likely to be a text, phone call or a letter, and you should be offered an alternative date for your appointment. If we have not contacted you, please attend your appointment as planned.

If my appointment is rescheduled, will I be put back to the bottom of the waiting list?

Any appointments that need to be rescheduled will be done so as a priority.

Should I cancel my appointment on the day of strikes?

No, if we have not contacted you, please attend your appointment as planned.

Is there anything I should do now?

To avoid delays in getting your medicines or the risk of running out of medicines during strikes please order prescriptions in good time.

I have a loved one who will be a hospital inpatient on strike day – how will their care be affected?

All hospital inpatients will be informed of how their care will be impacted on a ward-by-ward basis by the staff involved in delivering their care.

What should I do if I need an ambulance?

Patients should only call 999 if seriously ill or injured, and there is risk to life. Ambulances will be dispatched where clinically appropriate.

For all other health care needs, support will be available through NHS111 online (if you do not have internet access then 111 helpline is available) or at your local GP or pharmacy.

Will GP services be affected on strike days?

GP practices will continue to be open during consultant strikes. Please continue to attend your GP appointments, unless you are contacted and told otherwise.

Will dentists be impacted?

The British Dental Association has advised that some of their members who work in hospitals as consultants will take action. However, the vast majority of dentists (those not based in hospitals) will not be impacted. Please continue to attend any dental appointments unless you are contacted and told otherwise.

The joint strike action by junior doctors and consultants in October will last for 72 hours. In addition to Society of Radiographers (SoR) taking strike action for 24 hours.

What is considered an emergency?