Industrial Action: advice for patients
From 8pm Sunday 30 April until midnight Monday 1 May members of the Royal College of Nursing will be taking industrial action. This action will take place at a number of NHS Trusts including the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
If you have an appointment on 1 May
If we have not told you that your appointment has been cancelled please attend your appointment as planned. We will contact any patients whose appointment will be affected by the planned industrial action.
Emergency and urgent care
If you need urgent medical care please come forward as normal regardless of the strike action. This is especially important in emergency and life-threatening cases - when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk.
GP services are not impacted by the strike action. Please continue to attend your GP appointments, unless you are contacted and told otherwise.
Please use NHS services wisely during industrial action. We encourage people to use NHS 111 online as their first port of call for health needs and continue to only use 999 if it is a life-threatening emergency (when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk).
GP services
GP services are not impacted by the strike action. Please continue to attend your GP appointments, unless you are contacted and told otherwise.
Maternity services
If we have not contacted you directly, please attend any appointments that you have during the industrial action. All emergency maternity care will continue as normal.
Cancer services
If we have not contacted you directly, please attend any appointments that you have during the industrial action.
Please use the most appropriate NHS service for your care
The NHS is asking patients to use services wisely during 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 only use 999 if it is a life-threatening emergency. NHS 111 has an online symptom checker available which can help you if you have a less urgent concern.
Our Emergency Department continues to be very busy so please only attend if you have an urgent concern. 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.