Industrial action update June 2024

The British Medical Association (BMA) has announced junior doctors will take strike action from 07.00 am on Thursday 27 June to 07.00 am on Tuesday 2 July.

This is part of an ongoing dispute between junior doctors and government and will affect both Musgrove Park and Yeovil District Hospitals.

Junior doctors make up around half of all doctors in the NHS.

Junior doctors are qualified doctors who have up to eight years' experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.

During these strikes, other doctors (including consultants and other specialist doctors) will still be working.

Patient safety is our top priority, and we are working with teams and colleagues across the trust to maintain patient care as much as possible and provide the most essential services on these days.

During this time, it is likely that there will be a reduction in elective activity, and this may mean some planned appointments and procedures will need to be rescheduled. We will only reschedule appointments and procedures where necessary and will rebook immediately, where possible.

Advice for patients

Appointments and services

If you have an appointment, please attend as planned. Please don’t call to check if your appointment is going ahead. If your appointment is affected by industrial action, we will contact you directly.

Maternity services will be running as usual. For more details, please visit our Maternity pages (somersetft.nhs.uk)

Visiting patients

We continue to welcome family members and loved ones to visit patients at our hospitals, please speak to your ward to arrange visits as usual.

Which service should I access?

Regardless of any strike action taking place, 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.

We would like to encourage anyone with a non-urgent care need to first seek help from NHS 111, before attending our hospital sites.

For more information on when to call 999 and when to go to A&E, you can also visit the NHS UK website.

• If you have a life-threatening emergency, our ED is open 24 hours a day
• If you have a minor illness or minor injury - pharmacies and Urgent Treatment Centres -UTCs (formally minor injury units MIUs) are open
• If you have an urgent medical problem that isn’t a serious or life-threatening emergency and aren’t sure what to do, contact 111 first by phone or online at 111.nhs.uk– they will provide immediate medical advice and direct you to the best care for your needs
• GP practices will continue to be open during the junior doctor’s strike. Please continue to attend your GP and dental appointments, unless you are contacted and told otherwise
• Self-care: Visit NHS 111 online for self-care advice for things like grazed knees, coughs and colds
• Pharmacy: Visit your local pharmacy for headaches, upset stomachs, aches and pains
• Visit our Urgent Treatment Centres: for urgent, not life-threatening conditions and injuries such as sprains, fractures and burns
• For the latest information on opening hours and services, visit the Urgent Treatment Centre pages
• Further information on NHS services, opening hours and waiting times can also be found by downloading the NHS Quicker App.

You can find more information about healthcare services across Somerset on the NHS Somerset website.

Our services may be busier than usual over this weekend. Please contact NHS111 for immediate advice and guidance, and if you do find that you need to wait longer than usual, please be patient and kind to all our colleagues during this time.

Thank you for your support and understanding.

Useful links:

Visit the NHS England website for more information about the strikes, including answers to Frequently Asked Questions.