News and events

The British Medical Association has announced strike action by resident doctors from 7.00am on Monday (15 June) until 6.59am on Friday 19 June.

During these strikes, all other NHS staff (including consultants and other specialist doctors) will still be working, and the focus of the NHS will be on ensuring as many services as possible continue to operate safely. 

Regardless of any strike action taking place, it is really important that patients and members of the public take the following steps:

• If you need urgent medical care continue to come forward as normal, especially in emergency and serious life-threatening cases - when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk. 
• Choose services appropriately during industrial action and take simple steps to help ensure care is available to patients who need it most. This includes using 111 online as the first port of call for health needs, and as ever only using 999 if it is a serious or life-threatening emergency. For more information on when to call 999 and when to go to A&E, visit the NHS UK website.
• If we have not contacted you, please attend your appointment as planned. The NHS will contact you if your appointment needs to be rescheduled due to strike action.
• Play your part during industrial action by looking after themselves, loved ones and checking in on vulnerable family members and neighbours.

While we will do our best to only cancel appointments where it is necessary, we know from previous strikes that there will be disruption to patient appointments as a result of the strikes. 

GP practices will continue to be open during the resident doctors strikes. Resident doctors who train in GP practices, known as GP registrars, may take strike action. While they are an important part of the practice team, the effective running of the practice is not dependent on them as they are considered ‘supernumerary’ to the workforce of the practice, meaning they are an additional member of staff. Please continue to attend your GP and dental appointments, unless you are contacted and told otherwise. 

Thanks to the incredible efforts of NHS staff, during the latest round of industrial action from 7 to 13 April 2026, the NHS maintained 94.1% of elective activity, compared with the same period last year. The NHS recorded its best year on record for elective care in the last year, with more than half a million (506,000) more people starting treatment or completing care compared with last year, taking the total to over 18.6 million in the last 12 months. 

Resident doctors, previously named junior doctors, make up around half of all doctors in the NHS and have anywhere up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.

The NHS will be working closely with the BMA to discuss any patient safety concerns and ensure safe staffing for emergency care continues to be available. This is part of a clinically led process in which safety concerns of local clinicians can be escalated to the BMA.