Unison members working for Yorkshire Ambulance Service will be taking part in industrial action on Monday 23 January 2023.
Members of the union will take action for 12 hours between 10am and 10pm and, in line with previous action taken, ambulance staff will be prioritising those with life-threatening needs.
Hospital staff will be discharging as many patients as possible in advance of the strike where they are medically fit to leave, and focusing efforts on timely ambulance handovers on the day.
Anyone with a routine hospital appointment or procedure scheduled for 23 January should attend as planned. Should there be a need to change your arrangements, including the use of patient transport services, you will be contacted directly to explain what this means for you in more detail and to reschedule if necessary.
Patients should only call 999 if it is a medical or mental health emergency, i.e. when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk. As there will be fewer ambulances on the roads during the industrial action, patients calling 999 for conditions which are not life-threatening are unlikely to receive an ambulance on strike days.
There are also likely to be fewer 999 and NHS111 call handlers available on the day, so anyone contacting these services should expect longer call response times. Where it is given, patients should take advice from 111 or 999 call handlers on circumstances where it is suitable for them to make their own way to hospital.
Please take extra care at this time and look out for vulnerable family members, friends or neighbours.
Anyone with non-urgent care needs should first seek help from NHS 111 online.
If you are unwell and need assistance, you should also consider alternatives such as:
- Local pharmacies
- Your GP practice
- Story Street walk-in centre, Hull
- Local Urgent Treatment Centres (Bransholme, Beverley, Goole and Bridlington), all of which are open into the evening with the exception of Bransholme which remains open 24hrs/day.
Regardless of any strike action taking place, it is really important that patients who need urgent medical care continue to come forward, especially in emergency and life-threatening cases – when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk.
For more information on when to call 999 and when to go to A&E, you can visit the NHS UK website.