Junior Doctors strike
Following the break down of talks at the arbitration service ACAS this afternoon, the BMA has announced that Junior Doctors will now go ahead with three days of industrial action. These will be as follows:
12 January 2016: Emergency care only between 8am on Tuesday, 12 January and 8am on Wednesday, 13 January (24 hours)
26 January 2016: Emergency care only between 8am on Tuesday, 26 January and 8am on Thursday, 28 January (48 hours)
10 February 2016: Full withdrawal of labour between 8am and 5pm on Wednesday, 10 February
Obviously if talks resume the strikes may be called off, however it is likely that even if there is no strike action in the end, many operations will have been postponed in anticipation of the strike and there will be inevitable delays and cancellations to operations over the next few weeks. If you do have an appointment it is well worth contacting the hospital a couple of days in advance to ensure the appointment is still going ahead.
There will be a fuller article in next week’s Langport Leveller.