Derriford Hospital urges people to only attend in ‘life-threatening …

Derriford Hospital staff are set to take part in the largest walkout in NHS history from Thursday. Junior doctors at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust are among those taking part in the walkout between July 13 to July 18.

Consultants – the most senior doctors in the NHS – are planning to stage industrial action from July 20-21, when they will only provide scaled-back “Christmas Day cover”. Then radiographers will strike at 43 NHS trusts between 8am on July 25 and 8am on July 27.

It is said NHS Providers said NHS trusts will “hardly have time to draw breath” between the strikes and warned against the “domino effect of repeated waves of industrial action”. Now, Derriford Hospital has issued advice to patients and urged people to only attend in ‘life-threatening emergencies’.

In a post on the UHP website, Derriford said: “Industrial action is a national dispute between the Government and Trades Unions about terms and conditions. We are committed to keeping disruption to our services to a minimum on these dates, and we have measures in place to ensure the safety and welfare of our patients and our staff.

“Please be reassured that we are all working together to care for all of our patients and their loved ones. Please be patient and kind to our staff if you are finding yourself experiencing a wait for our services. We’ve been working very closely with the unions to try and keep as many of our services running as possible, but we know that some of our patients may be impacted as a consequence of the strike.”

It says if you have an appointment you should attend unless you have been contacted. Patients are urged not to call to check if their appointment is going ahead, as if there is an issue you will be contacted directly.

A spokesperson added: “Please use our Emergency Department if you have a life-threatening emergency. Please be aware that our service, like the wider NHS and local health and care system, is very busy.

“If you have a minor illness or minor injury, local GP surgeries and pharmacies are open. If you have an urgent medical problem that isn’t an emergency contact 111 first by phone or online. The Urgent Treatment Centre at the Cumberland Centre in Devonport is open every day to treat you if you have an injury which isn’t life-threatening, but requires urgent treatment. Our Minor Injury Units at Tavistock and South Hams Hospital are also open everyday.”