Resident doctors industrial action

Planning for the latest industrial action by resident doctors in an ongoing national dispute over pay, conditions and employment across the NHS is underway at Frimley Health.

The national strike is due to run from 7am on Friday 14 November until 7am on Wednesday 19 November. As with similar recent action, we will be focused on ensuring that as many services as possible run as usual and our priorities will include urgent and emergency care. So it is important that patients who need help with emergency and serious life-threatening conditions come forward as normal.

GP services, primary care, dentists and pharmacists will all be open as usual. We will also be running as many planned procedures as possible, and we are asking all patients who have outpatient and other appointments to attend as normal unless we contact you directly in advance.

Although other NHS staff, including consultants and other specialist doctors, will be working the industrial action will present an additional challenge at a busy time.

You can help us over this period by choosing services appropriately and taking simple steps to ensure care is available to patients who need it most.

• For anything that isn’t a life-saving emergency, use an alternative NHS service – NHS 111 first either online or by phone.
  • Your local pharmacist offers expert advice for minor health concerns and many common illnesses like colds, tummy troubles, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, sore throats, coughs, bites and stings. The pharmacy first service means patients can now visit without a GP appointment for seven common conditions: shingles, sore throat (five years and over), infected insect bites, earaches in children aged one to 17 years, sinusitis (12 years and over).
  • Same day Minor Injury Unit at Brants Bridge, Bracknell, RG12 9RT is open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm – no appointment needed, just walk in for sprains and strains, suspected broken limbs, minor scalds and burns and head injuries.
  • Your GP practice offers same-day appointments. These may be at your practice or at another location, for example a same-day minor illness or injury service. Same-day services for minor illness:
    • Slough Urgent Care Centre, Priors Close (open 8am-8pm, seven days a week), providing booked and walk-in urgent care for patients who do not require treatment in the emergency department. Patients must be registered with a GP in the Slough area. You can walk in and be given a booked appointment.
    • St Mark’s Urgent Primary Care Centre offers same day urgent care for both minor illness and minor injuries for Maidenhead registered patients. Your GP practice or NHS 111 can book you into this service.
    • Windsor Same-Day service: same-day minor illness care, booked via your Windsor-based GP practice. Located at King Edward VII Hospital, open 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5.30pm on Saturday.
    • Bracknell Same Day service for minor illness for patients registered in Bracknell Forest and Ascot only. Booked appointments only via NHS 111 or your GP Surgery.
  • If your child is unwell, and you’re not sure of the best place to go for advice, visit the NHS Frimley Healthier Together website or download the app.
  • If you are feeling worried about your mental health there are a number of services available. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, or you need urgent mental health support, you can call 111 and select the mental health option or call Samaritans on 116 123 for free.

We are grateful to all our colleagues for continuing to work together to ensure that our patients remain safe while the industrial action is ongoing.