Junior doctors in England are currently taking industrial action which will continue until 7am on Tuesday, 9 January.
The NHS is prioritising patient safety during the periods of strike action, with health and care partners working together to ensure that critical services continue to be available.
However, the impact is likely to be very challenging for local services, with New Year a usual time of high-pressure across health and care.
Everybody who works in health and care in Sussex is grateful to people for their support during the several periods of industrial action across the past year, and is calling-on the public to give support again, and ensure local communities, patients, families, and carers are able to access the help and care they need.
People can support the NHS during the strike days by using the right health service to meet your needs, and help to ensure emergency care is available for those in most need by taking the following actions.
Hear NHS Sussex CMO, Dinesh Sinha, talk about how the NHS is planning for the strike action, and how you can help
- Choose the most appropriate NHS service for your needs and only use 999 and A&E or Emergency Departments for serious or life-threatening emergencies.
- Make sure you have ordered your repeat prescriptions in advance, by using the NHS app, or via your GP. Please plan for the bank holidays and make sure you have enough of your medication. If you want to find out which pharmacies are open across the festive period, please visit this page.
- Use NHS 111 first either online or by phone for anything that isn’t a life-saving emergency. Same-day urgent, but not life-threatening, treatment is available at local MIUs and UTCs.
- Know it may take longer than expected to be seen and treated for those patients who attend emergency departments, but do not have time-critical or life-threatening conditions. Please continue to be kind and patient to hard-working and busy staff.
- Collect family and friends from hospital as soon as they are ready to be discharged.
- Stay away from hospitals if showing the symptoms of flu or COVID-19 (or have been in contact with someone who has tested positive) unless it is an emergency.
Planned appointments and clinics are likely to be affected, however please continue to attend your appointments unless you are contacted directly by the NHS.
You do not need to contact your NHS service or team in advance, the team will contact patients directly if an appointment needs to be rescheduled.