Disruption at clinics as NHS strike goes ahead
The industrial action was taken over the Government’s controversial NHS pension reforms.
A spokesman for the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, Joe Wise, confirmed that a number of appointments at the West Berkshire Community Hospital had been affected.
“Three of our outpatient clinics are slightly affected – but only a handful of patients had their appointments postponed, and they were contacted in advance of today,” he said.
“All surgery both here and the operations we had planned for West Berkshire Community Hospital are going ahead, with no cancellations. All urgent care is unaffected.”
The South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) said all emergency and urgent care would be carried out as normal, however advised against unnecessary ambulance call outs or trips to Accident and Emergency.
A statement released by the Trust said: “If ambulance crews are called out to those people suffering from minor illnesses they cannot get to those people who really do need their help.”
The Government Health Secretary Andrew Lansley urged doctors not to take part, however the true impact of the day’s action may remain unclear as the Department of Health informed NHS trusts not to reveal details to the media.
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