Explainer

Widespread disruption to health service expected during day of health strikes

Patients have been warned to expect widespread disruption to health services on Thursday when ambulance crews and health workers stage a day of strike action across Northern Ireland.

Hundreds of outpatient appointments and procedures, children’s services, mental health facilities and domiciliary care are among the services due to be hit.

Trust services to be affected:

Belfast Trust

  • Outpatient appointments cancelled: 563

  • Inpatient / day case procedures: 93

  • Community services appointments (including mental health): 41

  • Allied Health Professional appointments: 94

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Western Trust

  • Homecare services: We are aware that a significant number of service users in receipt of Homecare may not receive their scheduled calls, between the hours of 00:01hrs until 23:59hrs, if it is delivered by the Western Trust. We are asking for the help of family members and carers to assist us during these times by checking in with their relatives / neighbours that receive Homecare services. Should an issue arise please call the local Homecare office on the following numbers: Northern Sector (Derry, Limavady, Dungiven) – (028) 7186 4385; Fermanagh (028) 6634 2414 or Strabane Castlederg and Omagh (028) 8283 5911. Homecare services delivered by our contracted providers are not expected to be affected.

  • The following Older People’s Day Centres will be closed all day: Creggan Day Centre and Foyleville Day Centre.

  • The following Learning Disability Day Centres will be closed all day: Oaktree Day Centre, Valley Centre, Evergreen Centre, Rossville Centre, Kesh Centre Fresh Focus, Lackaghboy 2, EPC, Lisnaskea and the Share Centre.

  • The following Adult Mental Health Day Centres will be closed all day: Arden Day Centre and Creggan Day Centre.

  • Drumcoo Psychical and Sensory Day Centre will remain closed all day.

  • The following Family Centres will be closed on all day: Shanthallow Family Centre, Riverside Family Centre, Erne Family Centre and Creggan Family Centre.

  • Significant impact to Family and Childcare services is anticipated. This service will be operating a bank holiday arrangement. Only emergency childcare requests will be responded to. In emergency situations please contact, The Gateway Team, telephone: 028 7131 4070.

  • A significant number of outpatient appointments have been postponed and a number of planned procedures have also been postponed across our three hospital sites. The Trust is currently in the process of re-booking the appointments and procedures.

  • There will be limited hospital catering facilities. Patient meals will be prioritised.

  • There will be limited response to community aids/appliance faults in client homes. All faults should still be logged in the normal way and these will be triaged in terms of risk/patient impact.

  • Laboratory and Hospital Pharmacy services will also be limited. The Trust’s labs will be operating a bank holiday service arrangement with capacity only for urgent samples. Patients who collect medications directly from the Trust’s Pharmacy Department’s at both Altnagelvin Hospital and the South West Acute Hospital may experience a delay.

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South Eastern Trust

  • Outpatient appointments: 115 postponed

  • Endoscopy Investigations: 24 postponed

  • Daycases: 19 postponed

  • Radiology Investigations: 12 postponed

  • Downe Day Procedure Unit will be CLOSED

  • Cataract Procedures: 13 postponed

Trust Services going ahead:

  • Outpatient appointment: 1272 going ahead as scheduled

  • The Regional Day Procedure Unit at Lagan Valley Hospital will operate as normal

  • There will be reduced theatre activity at the Ulster Hospital, however the Trust will continue to provide an Emergency List, Fracture List and two Elective Lists

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Northern Trust

Acute care:

  • Outpatients: 10 appointments postponed across the specialties of cardiac rehab, radiology, dermatology, minor injuries, Direct Assessment Unit, and fracture clinic.

  • Day cases: 24 appointments postponed across urology, colposcopy, endoscopy, general surgery, ENT, ERCP and bronchoscopy

  • Pre-assessment: 15 endoscopy appointments postponed

Community care:

  • GP treatment rooms: reduced capacity as only urgent bloods can be processed in Trust laboratories

  • Domiciliary care: approximately 1,500 service users impacted

  • Day centres: 9 closed and 1 operating a reduced service; 224 service users affected

Mental health and learning disability:

  • Adult centres: closed, 668 service users impacted

  • Share the care: 4 service users

Children’s services:

  • 3 Child Protection Case Conferences postponed, 5 children affected

  • 50 health visitor visits to be rearranged

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Southern Trust

Southern Trust has not posted information yet.

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UNISON, UNITE and NIPSA unions are to launch joint industrial action over pay and conditions.

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) said that ambulances will still be available, however, they will be limited, with priority going to patients with life-threatening injuries or illnesses.

“NIAS anticipates that there will be challenges throughout the day and have planned to maintain the safety of those patients whose need is greatest,” a spokesman said.

He added: “The impact of the action will be felt most on those patients calling NIAS whose need is less clinically urgent.

"We anticipate that there will be lengthy delays in responding to these categories of calls.”

The Ambulance Service said that callers should not hesitate to call 999 in the case of serious illness or injury, but added that other callers “should consider other options including self-care, seeking GP or Pharmacy advice or presenting themselves to Emergency Departments.”

Health Trusts said they have contacted patients and service users who will be impacted by the industrial action.

They said anyone who has not been contacted should assume their appointment will proceed as normal on Thursday.

Several thousand patients who rely on home care services and domiciliary care are also expected to be impacted by the walk out. 

Health visitor visits, some child protection conferences, family day centres and mental health day centres in several areas will also not be operating. 

Health staff have said they do not want to be taking strike action, but feel they have no other option.

Anne Speed from UNISON said: “It is an appalling situation when trade unions willing to negotiate have all doors closed to them. 

“Health workers cannot stand idly by or stay silent. And why should they?”

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