The British Medical Association (BMA) has confirmed that consultants will be taking part in industrial action on Thursday 20th and Friday 21st July, this will include consultants across the NHS in Lincolnshire.
Due to uncertainty around staffing levels during this time, the difficult decision has been taken to cancel some non-urgent appointments and operations in advance and there may be a need to cancel some appointments at short notice during the strike period.
If your appointment is cancelled, you will be contacted directly to re-book your appointments and operations for as soon as possible.
If you have an appointment and have not been contacted, it is important that you attend as usual.
Emergency departments at ULHT remain open for those who need urgent and emergency care, as do maternity and antenatal services.
People who need NHS care should use services as they usually would – 999 or A&E in a life-threatening emergency and NHS 111 online for other health concerns.
Rebecca Neno, Deputy Director, System Delivery, NHS Lincolnshire ICB, said:
“From Thursday 20th July there will be industrial action for two days, so we want to be especially clear that anyone with a life threatening medical issue should still call 999 – in all cases priority will be given to those with the most medically urgent needs.
“However, at the same time, we also need to remind people who need help with a non-life threatening medical issue to make use of the alternative sources of help and advice available, such as NHS 111 online.
“In addition, you can call 111 and, of course, GP practices and local pharmacies are open and able to offer advice and help. In Lincolnshire we also have the Waitless App, which can be downloaded and enables you to view live waiting time, queue numbers and travel time information for our urgent care facilities in the county.”