People are being urged to 'avoid risky behaviour' with emergency care prioritised over routine appointments during this week's junior doctor's strike.
The strike begins today and will run through to the early hours of Saturday morning – with NHS bosses warning the extended walk-out will bring 'immense pressures' to the service.
The NHS Confederation estimates the strike – the second to be held by junior doctors in their fight for better pay and conditions – could impact 250-300,000 patients.
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In a statement, NHS England announced staff will be asked to prioritise emergency and urgent care over some routine appointments and procedures to ensure safe care for those in life-threatening situations. The health body said operations and appointments will only be cancelled 'where unavoidable.'
Speaking ahead of the strikes, NHS England national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: “The NHS has been preparing extensively for the next set of strikes but managing additional pressure doesn’t get easier as time goes by – it gets much more difficult, not only due to the sheer number of appointments that need to be rescheduled, but also that they can take time to rearrange with multiple teams involved.
“This is set to be the most disruptive industrial action in NHS history, and the strikes tomorrow will bring immense pressures, coming on the back of a challenged extended bank holiday weekend for staff and services.
“Emergency, urgent and critical care will be prioritised but some patients will unfortunately have had their appointments postponed – if you haven’t, please do continue to come forward.”
Junior doctors make up around half of all doctors in the NHS according to NHS England.
During the last walk-out in March, Liverpool doctors explained their reasons for walking out.
Dr Caitlin Lythgoe said: "Junior doctors are feeling undervalued, overworked and underpaid. I'm sure it's the same for a lot of the public sector, which is why we're all backing each other up here.
"Those doctors are saving your life and they're working for £14 per hour in most cases. We're here to demand better pay conditions – that's also important because doctors are leaving the job because of the stress."
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