Age UK response to latest Doctor's strike

Age UK comment in response to the resident doctors 5-day strike starting tomorrow (17^th December)

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK said: "Hospitals will do their best to keep services going but there will inevitably be cancellations and delays and as the majority users’ older people will be hit harder than most. "Hospitals will do their best to keep services going but there will inevitably be cancellations and delays and as the majority of users are older people, they will be hit harder than most.

For many of them it will feel like their situation is a crisis hiding in plain sight and one that’s dragging on indefinitely. The postponement of a minor operation or a clinic appointment with a consultant to discuss test results and next steps may look 'non-urgent' on paper, but that's not how it will feel to an older person who is anxious and in pain, who has already waited months and who does not have time on their side. 

"With the NHS already under huge strain because of the usual winter pressures and flu continuing to surge, the impact of the resident doctors' strike on patient safety is hard to predict, but we note with foreboding the warnings from some experts that it could be compromised in the days to come. Good patient care will certainly become harder to deliver and while it has been suggested that the strike could lead to older people being stuck in hospital over Christmas when well enough to leave, the bigger risk may be that some are discharged prematurely, without the right package of care at home, as hospitals struggle to free up beds.

"At Age UK we had called on the resident doctors to call off this strike or postpone it until flu numbers are lower, but in the event the only things being postponed this week are scheduled appointments, operations and procedures. That's really sad for older people and worryingly, as these strikes continue the atmosphere seems to be becoming more bitter, not less, weakening the collective sense of solidarity and goodwill on which the NHS depends." 

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