NHS staff strikes
Dear patients,
The strike action taking place means that the ambulance service in Greater Manchester will be prioritising emergency treatment – patients seeking urgent treatment will be seen.
Ambulance staff will be striking in Greater Manchester, however there will be no nurses striking.
This means that on some or all of the days where striking is taking place, there will be problems accessing ambulances and non emergency hospital services may be disrupted.
Regardless of any strike action taking place, it is really important that patients who need urgent medical care continue to come forward, especially in emergency and life-threatening cases – when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk.
GP services are not impacted by this strike action and none of our practice staff will be striking. Please continue to attend your GP appointments, unless you are contacted and told otherwise.
There will be fewer ambulances on the roads during industrial action, with the NHS prioritising those with life-threatening needs. As a result, patients whose conditions are not life-threatening are unlikely to get an ambulance on strike days.
During strike days, it is likely 999 call handlers will be very busy. NHS 111 call centres will have fewer staff and longer call response times are expected. For this reason, people are advised to seek help from NHS 111 online, unless their call relates to a child under 5 or they do not have internet access.
If you need medical help or advice, please consider the other services available first, details of which can be found on the NHS GM website.
Check that you have sufficient supply of regular medicines for the festive period. Order repeat prescriptions via your GP practice or local pharmacy and leave plenty of time as they may be busy. Please avoid using NHS 111 for this purpose.
Patients should only call 999 if it is a medical or mental health emergency [when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk].
Ambulances will still be able to respond in these situations, but this may only be where there is an immediate risk to life.
For more information on when to call 999 and when to go to A&E, you can visit the NHS UK website.