Cheltenham General Hospital will maintain its A&E department operations after the British Medical Association suspended a four-day resident doctor strike in response to a revised pay proposal from the government.
The A&E unit had been scheduled to close at 20:00 on Sunday and transition to a minor injury and illness unit through Friday. However, following the BMA’s announcement of the strike suspension on Saturday, the hospital confirmed the closure would not proceed. Officials stated that while some service disruption remained unavoidable due to the timing of the decision, efforts were underway to reschedule appointments cancelled for Monday and reorganize those booked from Tuesday through Thursday. Patients were advised to attend appointments as scheduled unless directly notified otherwise.
Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of the BMA’s resident doctor committee, outlined the doctors’ position, emphasizing demands for fair compensation and sufficient employment opportunities. He indicated that tens of thousands of resident doctors would participate in a referendum to assess whether the new offer met their requirements. Fletcher cautioned that if doctors rejected the proposal, the union would pursue further escalated action in the following month.
Health Secretary James Murray characterized the new offer as an opportunity to resolve longstanding employment disputes. He noted that current fiscal constraints prevented an increase to this year’s pay offer but highlighted progress in other areas including training positions and workplace conditions. The suspended walkout would have constituted the 16th strike in the ongoing compensation dispute, with the original schedule running from 07:00 Monday through 06:59 Friday.
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