Cheltenham A&E department is closing over Christmas, hospital confirms | UK News

A major hospital has announced its accident and emergency department will be shut over Christmas because of strike action by junior doctors.

Cheltenham General Hospital’s A&E unit closed on Tuesday morning and will remain completely out of action until Saturday, December 23.

Only the minor injury and illness unit will reopen temporarily from December 23 until January 1.

The entire department will once again be shut from 8pm on New Year’s Day until 8am on Tuesday, January 9.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust has confirmed that all emergency care services will be ‘centralised at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital 24/7 throughout this period’.

‘The latest round of strikes at the busiest time of the year will bring substantial challenges to the local NHS, particularly hospital services,’ said its chief medical officer Dr Ananthakrishnan Raghuram (Raghu) MBE.

‘We are sorry that many patients will experience disruption to services.’

Dr Raghu said A&E is a ‘very challenging environment’ and decisions on the temporary service change ‘have not been taken lightly’.

He said: ‘We cannot emphasise enough how important it will be to keep A&E at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital clear for life threatening conditions and serious injuries.

‘The public can help by thinking carefully about their healthcare options and getting advice when needed from NHS 111.’

The trust said strike action will cause ‘unavoidable disruption’ but said patients who have a planned hospital operation, outpatient clinic or procedure should ‘attend as usual unless they hear otherwise’.

It added: ‘However, given the need to ensure safe staffing arrangements in emergency care and other critical services many appointments will need to be rearranged.’

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