Cheltenham General Hospital will keep its A&E department operational after the British Medical Association suspended a scheduled strike by resident doctors. The facility had been slated to close Sunday evening and reopen Monday as a minor injury and illness unit through Friday, but the planned four-day work action has been halted pending further developments.
The suspension came after the government presented a fresh pay proposal to the BMA on Saturday. Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust acknowledged that the last-minute decision to proceed with normal operations would create some service disruption, particularly for appointments scheduled Monday. The trust stated it was working to reschedule appointments from Tuesday through Thursday, and advised patients to attend as planned unless they received direct contact from the hospital.
Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of the BMA’s resident doctor committee, said the suspension would allow tens of thousands of frontline doctors to vote on whether the new offer adequately addresses their concerns regarding job availability and compensation erosion. He indicated that if doctors reject the proposal in their referendum, escalated action could resume next month.
Health Secretary James Murray characterized the development as an opportunity to move beyond recent industrial disputes, though he emphasized the country could not afford a larger pay increase for the current year. Murray noted the government had made progress in other areas including training positions and workplace conditions.
The walkout would have marked the 16th strike in the extended dispute over physician compensation. The action had been scheduled to begin Monday morning and continue through Friday morning.
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI