Wigan's junior doctors and consultants prepare to strike as pay dispute reaches ninth month

Consultants and junior doctors across NHS hospitals in Greater Manchester – including those run by Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – will be striking in August in an ongoing dispute between the British Medical Association and the Government over pay.

Junior doctors – who are qualified doctors in clinical training in either a hospital or general practice and make up around half of all doctors in the NHS – are planning to strike from 7am on Friday until 7am on Tuesday.

Consultants – senior doctors who see patients and are responsible for supervising junior doctors and other staff – will take action from 7am on Thursday, August 24 until 7am on Saturday, August 26.

NHS Greater Manchester says it has “robust plans” in place to prioritise resources to protect emergency treatment and critical care, minimise impact on patients and maintain patient safety.

However, across both periods of industrial action, there will be disruption to services, so bosses are encouraging people to only call 999 or attend A&E if someone is seriously ill or injured or if their life is at risk.

The industrial action coincides with NHS Greater Manchester’s campaign Get To Know Where To Go, which is supporting people to choose which service will be best for their needs and to know what steps to take to look after their own health – helping ease pressure on emergency services during days of strike action.

Dr Manisha Kumar, chief medical officer for NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care, said: “Our staff are working hard to ensure that we can continue to deliver safe care during the upcoming industrial action. However, services are likely to feel different for patients and we could see longer waits when busy in emergency departments, non-urgent outpatient appointments rescheduled and treatment being postponed, though people should still attend their appointments unless they have been contacted and told not to.

“Our message remains that 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. To help us treat those patients who need urgent care, we are asking members of the public to support us by using the most appropriate service for their needs. NHS 111 should be your first port-of-call (unless your call relates to a child under five), as they can give you advice on services and care.

"You can also help by checking in on vulnerable family members and neighbours and if possible, if your relative or friend is due to be discharged from hospital and needs to be collected, please do whatever you can to help bring them home as early as possible. This will help our teams to free up a hospital bed for someone waiting to be admitted.”

NHS Greater Manchester is urging people to prepare for the strikes by having a well-stocked first aid drawer, using a local pharmacy, taking a note of urgent helplines and making sure repeat prescriptions are ordered and collected.