The Trust that runs Scarborough Hospital has said that possible ‘undefined’ industrial action by GPs is ‘concerning’ amid continuing pressure on emergency care services.
Simon Morritt, chair of the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has said that if GPs vote for industrial action it will put added pressure on already strained local services.
The British Medical Association’s (BMA) ballot for collective action for GPs could see family doctors cap patient numbers with possible action starting in August.
It would be the first time in 60 years that GPs have taken industrial action amid warnings that it could bring the NHS to a “standstill”.
“What’s most concerning about this is the lack of specificity and the fact that it’s actually quite undefined,” said Mr Morritt, speaking at a board meeting of the York and Scarborough NHS Trust on Thursday, July 31.
He added: “My sense is that this will be an ongoing thing and not something that will necessarily stop at a point in time if there’s a pay resolution for general practitioners.”
The BMA has said that collective action is not the same as strike action but it could see GPs “prioritising their patients’ needs over local NHS system wants, pulling out from data sharing agreements, or pushing back against NHS England to instead offer face-to-face appointments as a default”.
The BMA formally entered a dispute with NHS England following a member referendum on the 2024/25 GP contract changes in March.
The Government and the BMA recently agreed to put an improved pay offer to junior doctors worth 22% on average over two years.
If junior doctors vote to accept the proposal it would “end a dispute that has gone on far longer than it needed to,” the BMA noted.
At Thursday’s meeting, the York and Scarborough NHS Trust’s board was also warned that “challenges in urgent and emergency care continue, with no indication that demand is reducing”.
In an attempt to relieve the pressure, the Trust has introduced a “ringfenced service” for patients arriving at emergency departments in Scarborough or York.
According to a report, a senior clinician will see patients who do not need to be kept in the emergency department and they will be given “the advice and treatment they need to get back on their way”.
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