INDUSTRIAL action set to be taken by resident doctors will affect North Cumbria's hospital services next week, an NHS trust has said.
Resident doctors of North Cumbria Integrated Care (NCIC) will exercise their right to take industrial action for four days next week, beginning at 7am on Monday June 15 and ending at 6.59am on Friday June 19.
Doctor Adrian Clements, NCIC's Executive Medical Director has said that trust is "committed to keeping our services safe throughout the industrial action."
As such, the Trust has made detailed plans to make sure it prioritises patient and staff safety, minimising the impact on services as much as possible.
The majority of planned operations and outpatients will be maintained during the industrial action, if any appointments are rearranged those patients will be contacted directly.
NCIC said that anyone who is not contacted to rearrange should attend their appointment as normal.
However, Dr Clements asked the public to use hospital services "thoughtfully."
He said: "Please reserve urgent and emergency care for situations that are truly critical. With fewer clinicians on duty, some patients may face extended waiting times, and we apologise for this. Thank you for your continued understanding and support."
People with urgent or life-threatening issues will always be prioritised, and those with non-urgent needs may experience longer waits.
The public can help by:
- Only calling 999 and attend emergency departments if it is a genuine life-threatening injury or illness
- If it isn't an emergency, consider using a different service such as your GP or pharmacy.
- Relatives and loved ones of inpatients can consider if they can support patients ready to be discharged sooner.
If you're not sure which service is best for your condition, please use NHS 111 online
It comes as NCIC makes positive progress in improving its performance and cutting waiting times.
The trust announced yesterday that it has improved its position on the Government's acute NHS trust leaderboard by 10 rankings.
Directors also approved a raft of investments in March, designed to strengthen Urgent and Emergency Care services at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.
Funding will expand operating hours of Same Day Emergency Care hubs on both sites and fully staff a new Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) in Carlisle.
A new frailty model will also reduce demand by preventing elderly patients from requiring hospital care.
Carlisle's Accident and Emergency Department was designed to accommodate 30,000 patients per year but in 2023, treated 78,300.
Carlisle's UTC will reduce some of that demand, treating minor injuries and illnesses that are not life threatening but require urgent attention.
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