Choosing the right healthcare service for your needs during industrial action by junior doctors

Members of the public are asked to choose the right healthcare service for their needs during the latest round of industrial action.

Junior doctors, who make up around half of all doctors in the NHS, will begin a five-day strike at 7am on Saturday 24^th February until 11.59pm on Wednesday 28^th February.

Routine appointments and planned operations will face disruption but University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust is focused on providing safe care to all who need it.

If we have not contacted you, please attend your appointment. The Trust will contact you if your appointment needs to be rescheduled.

Urgent and emergency services will continue to be provided, although the NHS is asking patients to take simple steps to help ensure care is available to those who need it most.

This includes using 111 online as the first port of call for health needs and only using 999 for an emergency.

Gaby Harris, Chief Operating Officer at UHCW NHS Trust, said: “We will be prioritising urgent and emergency care to protect patient safety and ensure those in most need can receive the best possible care.

“It is really important that patients who need urgent medical care continue to come forward as normal, especially in emergency and life-threatening cases.

“Our staff are working really hard to ensure as many patient appointments go ahead as possible, but there will inevitably be unavoidable disruption and we apologise to anyone impacted as a result.

“We thank people for their ongoing support and patience.”

Consultants and specialist doctors will still be working and GP practices will continue to be open.

For support and advice on when to call 999 and when to go to A&E, please click on the relevant links.