Wye Valley NHS Trust is asking patients to only attend the Emergency Department at Hereford County Hospital if they are seriously unwell.
Hereford County Hospital is expected to be extremely busy over the Easter weekend and into next week, with Junior Doctors on strike from 11th-14th April.
Dr James Bartlett, the Lead Consultant for Acute Medicine and Emergency Medicine at Hereford County Hospital shared a message on YouTube, pleading with patients to consider alternatives before attending Accident & Emergency over the weekend.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Lkdsh31z1yQu0026feature=youtu.be
Junior doctors in England have told the Health Secretary, Steve Barclay, that a credible offerâŻâ showing he is serious about pay restoration and willing to negotiate in a timely manner to resolve 15 years of pay erosion – could stop the forthcoming strike action.
In reply to a letter from Mr Barclay, the co-chairs of the Junior Doctors committee express their frustration at the Ministerâs refusal to meet with them, the fact it has taken him almost a week to reply to them and that he appears to have laid down yetâŻanotherâŻpre-condition to the negotiations.
This includes misrepresenting their opening position as a precondition to talks when they have set no preconditions, and asking them to give up their negotiating position and to call off strike action, for which the committee had an overwhelming mandate from nearly 50,000 junior doctors in England. âŻâŻâŻ
Committee co-chairs, Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson said:
âToday we are making a serious and substantial offer to Steve Barclay, which means it is within his gift to see next weekâs strike action suspended.
âIf he puts a credible offer on the table that shows he is serious about addressing doctors losing moreâŻthan 26% of their pay in real termsâŻand which we believe can form the basis of negotiation, we will suspend next weekâs action. This is the best way he can show he is serious about rapidly settling this dispute â something which he claimed in his letter to us, was his aim.âŻ
âWe very much expect that an offer will be a starting point in the discussions, rather than the final deal we agree, but until the Ministerâs office makes that offer and agrees to meet with us, we cannot consider stopping the strike action and starting negotiations.
âThere will be many details we can work out round the negotiating table but first of all we need to get into the room, with a credible offer on the table and that is where and when progress can be made.âŻThe ball is now very much in the Secretary of Stateâs court. Is he willing to table a serious offer we can consider? Or does he want to sit in his office and continue to claim we have set preconditions which we have not.
âFour days of strike action begins next Tuesday but we remain committed to working with the Government to find a solution that recognises the scale of pay erosion for Junior doctors in England and delivers a route towards full pay restoration. It is entirely within the Health Secretaryâs gift to avert the upcoming strikes.â