Disruption on the cards for patients in Burnley, Pendle and Ribble Valley as junior doctors plan 96 hour strike

Junior doctors are set to strike from 7am on Tuesday (April 11th until 7am on Saturday, April 15th) in a dispute with the Government over pay.

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, which provides services across a range of settings including Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital, Burnley General Teaching Hospital, Clitheroe Community Hospital, Pendle Community Hospital and Accrington Victoria Community Hospital, is trying to

minimise disruption and will continue to provide essential services.

But it has warned that during the 96 hour strike some planned appointments and procedures may be cancelled – and this may be at late

notice as the Trust explores every possible avenue for services to go ahead. There also may be longer waits to be seen than usual but alternative pathways for care can be found on the Trust’s website elht.nhs.uk

Tony McDonald, Executive Director of Integrated Care, Partnerships and Resilience at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust, said: “Our number one priority is to ensure that those in greatest need continue to have access to high quality care during the industrial action.

“We are doing everything we can to minimise disruption but there is no doubt that some services will be impacted and the industrial action is set to take place immediately after the Easter bank holiday, which is always a very busy time for the Trust.

“If you have an appointment at any of our hospitals, please assume this is going ahead - if we need to rearrange any appointments or procedures, we will contact you directly to let you know.

“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.

“Please help us by thinking about the most appropriate service for your need - if it is not life threatening or an emergency, use NHS 111 online or call 111 and a clinician will be able to advise what to do.”