NHS organisations in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire are warning of significant disruption during the industrial action being taken by junior doctors next week.

The strike, which will be the third taken by junior doctors, is due to take place from 7am on Wednesday (14 June) to 7am on Saturday (17 June).

Junior doctors make up around half of the medical workforce in England and the action will impact the area's hospitals, mental health services, GP practices and other NHS services. A junior doctor is a qualified doctor who has anywhere up to eight years' experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.

Dr Dave Briggs, Medical Director at NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, said: "Once again, we are working together to plan for the industrial action and doing everything we can to keep essential and emergency care services running. Junior doctors make up a huge portion of our workforce, so there will be significant disruption and waiting times in A&E will be much longer than usual.

"Please only attend A&E or call 999 if you are facing life threatening injury or illness and use alternative services where possible, including 111 online, pharmacies or urgent treatment centres.

"If your relative is due to be discharged from hospital and needs to be collected, please do whatever you can to help bring them home as early as possible. This will help our teams to free-up a hospital bed for someone waiting to be admitted."  

Regardless of any strike action taking place, it is important that patients who need urgent medical care continue to come forward as normal, especially in emergency and life-threatening cases.

Where the situation is not life-threatening, members of the public are being reminded that alternative support is available through NHS111 online, local pharmacies or at urgent treatment centres.  

Anyone who has an appointment during this time, is asked to please still attend unless they are contacted directly by the NHS in advance to say it has been postponed.