The health service issues an update for members of the public as resident doctors in England continue their six-day strike
The NHS has issued a ‘Monday, April 13, at 7am’ alert for people living in England in a fresh update this morning (April 11). It comes as the public is being reminded to access care as normal in the final days of the latest resident doctors’ strike, which will end at the start of next week.
Taking to X, the NHS shared a new post, which reads: “Some NHS services will continue to be affected due to strike action until 7am Monday 13 April. Please continue to attend your GP and dental appointments, unless you are contacted and told otherwise.” It adds: “GP practices and dental surgeries remain open. Please continue to attend your GP and dental appointments, unless told otherwise”.
Members of the public are urged to seek care as normal over the weekend as resident doctors in England continue their six-day strike. Officials have said workers across the NHS “have responded heroically” to the disruption, despite the challenge of finding cover for staff after the long Easter weekend.
Resident doctors started the six-day walkout at 7am on Tuesday, April 7, and will return to work at 6.59am on Monday, April 13. Patients should attend planned appointments over the weekend unless they are contacted to reschedule, NHS England said. GP practices, pharmacies, NHS 111 and emergency care services will also continue to be available in the final days of industrial action.
Professor Ramani Moonesinghe, national clinical director for critical and perioperative care at NHS England, said: “Yet again staff across the NHS have responded heroically to keeping patients safe and ensuring that people can continue to get the care they need since the strikes began on Tuesday.
“It has been particularly challenging to fill rotas off the back of the Easter bank holiday weekend, and we are immensely grateful to the staff who have gone above and beyond to provide cover so that hospitals can weather the storm and limit disruption for patients.
“The NHS remains open for you over the weekend, and patients should continue to attend appointments unless they have been asked to reschedule. As ever, please call 999 or come to A&E in an emergency, and use 111 online first if you need urgent but not life-threatening help.”
The Health Secretary has said he has “not given up hope” of striking a deal with resident doctors, but reiterated that the Government has gone as far as it can with its offer. Wes Streeting said medics have been the “standout winners” of the Labour Government, but warned they will have to “compromise” to get the NHS through its challenges.
Before the walkout, the British Medical Association (BMA) rejected an offer from the Government which included a 4.9% increase in average basic pay. Mr Streeting told the Press Association the union “walked away” from a good deal.
He said: “They have got to recognise that given the challenges we face in the NHS, the challenges we face right across our public services, how hard-pressed taxpayers are in their pockets at the moment, and how uncertain the world is with all of the instability and uncertainty that we see, they have got to accept there is only so much this Government can do in such a short space of time.
“They have been the standout winners in less than two years of a Labour Government. There’s got to be a bit of give and take here. Resident doctors have had a good deal, but they’re not the only NHS staff. The NHS is the most important public service for this Labour Government, but it’s not the only public service.
“So, in order to get the country through these challenges, we are going to have to compromise. The Government has shown compromise, that offer, that deal’s on the table. I need resident doctors, the BMA, to come back next week and accept that compromise.”
The walkout is the 15th round of industrial action by resident doctors in England since 2023 and is expected to cost the NHS £300 million. Collectively, the cost of strikes is estimated to have topped £3 billion.
However, Mr Streeting told the PA the NHS is “coping” with the disruption. “We’re doing everything we can to maintain planned care, we’re keeping urgent and emergency services there for people, and people are coming forward in the way that we want them to, so that’s all encouraging,” he said.
“But I’m not going to pretend that this hasn’t come with significant disruption and enormous costs. This is going to end up being £300 million that could have been put in doctors’ pockets, and in other areas of patient care, and support other staff in the NHS. I have not given up hope that we will be able to get a deal with resident doctors. We have gone, as a government, as far as we can.”
