QA says plans are in place as junior doctors walk out

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Cosham hospital, said it wants to keep disruption to a minimum during the two-day stoppage.

A spokeswoman said: ‘The hospital trust’s highest priority is to provide excellent and safe care to our patients, and this priority remains during periods of industrial action.

‘We have well-prepared contingency plans in place to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum.

‘Where any disruption to normal services is likely to occur we will aim to directly notify patients in advance.

‘We will continue to keep you well-informed as this situation evolves.’

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FOR: ‘We care deeply about what we do’

AGAINST: ‘We want a safer, better NHS for everyone’

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Outside QA today, a group of striking junior doctors carried banners about their proposed new contract and the affects it could have.

Reza Rahman, who works in anaesthetics at the hospital, said: ‘The main reason we are striking is because the contract has been imposed on us.

‘It is a contract that we feel, as a junior doctor body, is unsafe and unfair.’

South Central Ambulance Service also has plans in place for the strike.

It said its ‘robust’ plans would focus on its top priority of protecting the safety, welfare and service it provides to patients.

A spokesman added it would continue to monitor the situation as it develops and take appropriate action.

He said: ‘While we continue to focus on getting to patients with life-threatening injuries or illnesses as a priority, the impact of the industrial action on our service may lead to delays in getting to some patients in non-life threatening conditions.’

For more information on what services are available visit nhs.uk/strike