20 February 2024

Junior doctors’ industrial action – February 2024

Junior doctors who are members of the British Medical Association (BMA) and Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) will take part in industrial action from 7am on Saturday 24 February to 11.59pm on Wednesday 28 February.

On these days, junior doctors in Derbyshire will have the opportunity and personal choice to go on strike for all or some of the time.

While some NHS services – such as community and district nursing services – will be largely unaffected by this industrial action, there may be disruption to other services including hospital services, mental health services and primary care (General Practice).

If your appointment needs to be rescheduled due to Industrial Action, the NHS will contact you, please attend your appointments as normal unless you are contacted.

If your appointment needs to be rearranged, NHS staff may try to call you from a withheld number. We understand that it may be frustrating if your appointment needs to be rescheduled, but please show courtesy to the member of staff who is calling you.

Patient safety will be the priority on the days of the industrial action. All the Trusts affected have incident management teams in place and are working closely with union representatives and each other to minimise disruption.

Our key messages to members of the public ahead of, and during, the industrial action will include:

The NHS will contact you if an appointment needs to be rescheduled due to industrial action. If your appointment needs to be rearranged, NHS staff may try to call you from a withheld number. We understand that it may be frustrating if your appointment needs to be rescheduled, but please show courtesy to the member of staff who is calling you.

If you have not been contacted by the NHS, please attend your appointment as planned.

Please use health services wisely during industrial action and take simple steps to help ensure care is available to those who need it most. Please use 111 online as the first port of call for health needs and only using 999 if it is a life-threatening emergency.

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. A&E, ambulance and 999 services in Derby and Derbyshire will remain available during the industrial action.

Similarly, people in mental health distress should continue to seek support as normal. Mental health crisis services will be running during the industrial action, as will the Derbyshire Mental Health Helpline and Support Service (0800 028 0077). Please be patient when calling the helpline as the helpline team are likely to receive a large number of calls. Other sources of support can be found on the emotional health and wellbeing website and the Hub of Hope website.