A FRESH government offer has led to the suspension of planned industrial action by resident doctors, including in Gloucestershire.
The British Medical Association (BMA) confirmed on Saturday, June 13, that the strike, which was due to begin today, Monday, June 15, has been called off and will now be put to a member vote.
This would have been the 16th round of strike action since 2023.
Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of the BMA’s resident doctors committee, said: "We have always been clear that no strikes needed to go ahead if we received an offer appropriate to put to our members.
"This should not have been left to the last moment, but we hold up our end of the bargain when the government shifts its position."
While the late decision has prevented further disruption, some NHS Trusts had already made changes to services in advance of the planned action.
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust confirmed that its emergency department in Cheltenham will remain open as usual.
Appointments and procedures scheduled for Monday, June 15, that were previously cancelled will not be reinstated.
Patients with appointments from Tuesday, June 16, onwards are advised to attend as planned unless contacted directly by the hospital.
The Trust said it is working to reinstate appointments for Tuesday through Thursday and will contact affected patients if their appointments can go ahead.
NHS England welcomed the news but emphasised that more improvements are needed.
Professor Ramani Moonesinghe, national clinical director for critical and perioperative care at NHS England, said: "It is extremely welcome news that the BMA has called off next week’s strike – for both patients and NHS staff.
The BMA has recognised the positive changes we have made for both resident doctors and patients over the last year – but we are not complacent, we know more is needed and that working conditions have not been good enough, and we will continue to do more to make the NHS a desirable place to work.
I want to thank staff across the NHS who have worked extremely hard to maintain care for patients throughout recent industrial action."
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