The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has announced round-the-clock strike action from 8pm on Sunday 30 April to 11.59pm on Monday 1 May 2023.

The RCN has confirmed that this strike will involve nursing staff working in emergency care and other services that were previously exempt. The RCN and government are in dispute around the timings of these strikes. For operational purposes Barnsley Hospital must plan for strikes to go ahead.

This industrial action is likely to have a significant impact on hospital services, and our teams have been working hard to minimise the impact for patients. We will only cancel appointments and procedures where it is necessary and will reschedule immediately, where possible.

If we have not contacted you, please attend your appointment as planned.

Some services such as our emergency department will feel different for patients – this could include longer waits or deferred treatment.

We expect disruption to services will continue into Wednesday, so please bear with us if this is the case. We thank you for your patience and understanding, and would like to reassure you that, as always, patient safety remains our absolute priority throughout the Trust.

Regardless of any strike action taking place, it is really important that patients who need urgent medical care continue to come forward as normal, especially in emergency and life-threatening cases – when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk. We expect there will be significant delays in the Emergency Department as patients will be seen according to their immediate needs.

We ask patients to use services wisely during these three days of industrial action and take simple steps to help ensure care is available to patients who need it most. This includes using 111 online as the first port of call for health needs, and continuing to use 999 for any life-threatening emergency.

GP practices will not be impacted by the nursing strikes. Please continue to attend your GP and dental appointments, unless you are contacted and told otherwise. For more information on when to call 999 and when to go to A&E, you can visit the NHS UK website.