Cheltenham General Hospital’s A&E department will continue operating after strike action was called off. The department had been scheduled to close beginning Sunday evening and operate as a minor injury and illness unit through the following Friday. The British Medical Association announced on Saturday that it was suspending the planned four-day resident doctor walkout in response to a fresh pay proposal from the government.
The cancellation came too late for the hospital trust to reinstate all cancelled appointments scheduled for Monday, but officials indicated they were working to reorganize services from Tuesday through Thursday. The NHS trust acknowledged that some service disruption was unavoidable given the late notice but stated it was prioritizing restoration of care where feasible. Patients were instructed to proceed with appointments unless notified otherwise.
Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of the BMA’s resident doctor committee, characterized the offer as meeting longstanding demands for equitable compensation and measures to address physician unemployment and pay degradation. He indicated that tens of thousands of resident doctors would participate in a referendum to evaluate the proposal’s adequacy. Fletcher warned that if the membership rejected the offer, escalated industrial action would resume during the following month.
Health Secretary James Murray described the agreement as providing an opportunity to conclude recent disputes. Murray noted that the government could not increase the pay offer for the current year but stated progress had been achieved in other areas including training positions and workplace conditions. The suspended strike would have been the 16th in an ongoing dispute centered on compensation and working arrangements for resident physicians.
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