MAJOR disruption to NHS routine care is expected from Thursday (August 24) and into the Bank Holiday weekend as consultants in Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, go on strike.

Almost all routine care is being brought to a standstill and compounded by staff holidays and sickness and warm weather, significant disruption is predicted.

The NHS is advising people to continue to use 999 in life-threatening emergencies and NHS 111 online for other health concerns.

The latest wave of national action started at 6.59 am Thursday and runs until 6.59 am on Saturday (26 August).

In contrast to strike action among other staff groups, no other clinicians can provide cover for consultants, so any planned care delivered by junior doctors or other healthcare professionals which requires even remote consultant supervision will need to be rescheduled.

It means a significant amount of planned care involving junior doctors will also be affected, and many services will have avoided scheduling planned appointments altogether.

The action by consultants follows the latest period of industrial action by junior doctors across five days last week, which nationally saw a further 61,200 hospital appointments postponed, with the cumulative total over more than eight months of strikes now running at 839,327.

NHS England South West medical director Dr Kheelna Bavalia said: “The NHS is faced with significant disruption to routine care, coming at a time when the South West has an influx of holidaymakers and day-trippers.

“In addition, the strikes take place ahead of the bank holiday and we are even busier than usual with residents and visitors getting out and about.

“We are also seeing colleagues take annual leave, and staff sickness within some trusts, so teams are already stretched.

“We are asking people to continue to use 999 in life-threatening emergencies and NHS 111 online for other health concerns.

“GP services and pharmacies are also available for patients and can be accessed in the normal way.

“Patients who have not been contacted or informed that their planned appointment has been postponed are also urged to attend as normal.”

NHS national medical director for secondary care, Dr Vin Diwakar, said: “This latest action will again hit the NHS hard, with almost all routine care being affected.

“We are working closely with unions to ensure we prioritise urgent and emergency care for patients, but there is no doubt that it becomes harder each time to bring routine services back on track following strikes, and the cumulative effect after nearly nine months for patients, staff, and the NHS as a whole is enormous.”

People can visit NHS England — South West » Pharmacy opening hours to see the opening hours for South West pharmacies throughout the bank holiday.