JUNIOR doctors in North Cumbria have joined colleagues across the country in a five day strike over pay and while the action comes at a fragile time for NHS services, the health trust has said the action has not disrupted its winter plan.
North Cumbria Integrated Care is the NHS trust responsible for services at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.
A 2025 winter plan was finalised in September, designed to ensure North Cumbria NHS sites remain safe and continue to provide high quality care despite the added pressures of the winter period.
Hospital admissions increase in winter as cold weather and icy conditions can result in hypothermia and injuries sustained in falls. Illnesses such as flu and pneumonia are more prevalent in winter and affect older people more acutely.
And despite the trust's junior doctors taking part in strike action since Friday, efforts to deal with winter pressures have not stalled.
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A spokesperson for NCIC said: "Every year a significant amount of work and planning takes place to ensure we are ready for the additional pressures winter brings, and these plans have continued throughout the strike action."
Industrial action by junior doctors in Cumbria and across the country began on Friday November 14 and concludes at 7am today (Wednesday November 19).
The strikes are designed to urge the Government to increase pay for junior doctors.
Union bosses at the British Medical Association have said that pay for junior doctors is 20 per cent lower in real terms than in 2008, despite a 5.4 per cent increase in August 2025, in addition to the 22 per cent they received over two years in 2023-24.
NCIC said: "Thanks to the tremendous efforts of our teams most planned operations and appointments have been able to go ahead. A very small percentage of outpatient appointments were rearranged and those patients have been contacted directly. We would like to give a huge 'thank you' to our colleagues who did an outstanding job through the strike period and also last week to keep our patients safe during unexpected flooding.
"Thank you also to the public for their support, and for using our services appropriately, which has helped us to keep our sites safe during the strikes."
An effective winter plan is needed to prevent 12 hour waits as well as 'corridor care,' where a patient is treated in other parts of the hospital due to a lack of available beds.
The Board of Directors heard in September that NCIC's rate of 12 hour A&E waits had improved to 9.1 per cent in July from 10.5 per cent in June. The trust aims to reduce 12 hour waits to 8.2 per cent.
The trust said: "We know that flu is circulating much earlier this year, and this could mean a busier winter than last year. We urge people to not visit loved ones in hospital if you have been unwell in the last 48 hours, infections are more serious for those who are already in hospital, and also contribute to staff sickness.
Eligible patients were also encouraged to take up the offer of vaccinations "as soon as possible."
Data will soon be published on the number of NCIC doctors taking part in the strike as well as the number of appointments affected.
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