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Industrial action on 15 and 20 December

14 December 2022 (updated 20 December 2022)

For the latest information on the Wales Ambulance Services NHS Trust industrial action on 21 and 28 December, please visit the latest Information on Strike Action - Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust (opens in new tab)

 

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has announced plans for industrial action in most parts of Wales (including Hywel Dda University Health Board) on Thursday 15 December and Tuesday 20 December. We are working with the RCN leading up to the dates of strike action to ensure we can maintain patient safety with minimal disruption to critical services.

Whilst all emergency services will be operating as normal, we need to adjust some elements of our planned care services and prioritise patients with urgent care needs wherever possible. There will be some changes to services on 15 and 20 December and will contact you if your planned appointment is impacted by the strike action.

Our Chemotherapy Units will be operating as normal on strike days and some surgery for urgent cases will take place at our hospitals.

Where appointments need to be re-scheduled, patients are being contacted by the relevant team to re-arrange their appointment as quickly as possible. In some cases, this may mean bringing appointments forward. Some face-to-face outpatient appointments will still go ahead, and some may be held as an online/virtual appointment.

If you have an appointment on Thursday 15 December, and have not been contacted, please assume that your appointment will go ahead. We are contacting all patients by telephone or text message, please check your telephone for any messages.

If you have an appointment on Tuesday 20 December that is impacted by the industrial action, we will be contacting you before the end of this week to re-arrange your appointment.

Most GP surgeries, Community Pharmacies and Dental services will continue to operate as normal on 15 and 20 December.

Some community based services will be impacted by the industrial action. However, urgent services, including priority district nursing and the acute response team will continue to operate. If there is a change to your community-based appointment on Thursday, 15 December, the team will contact you to rearrange your appointment.

The mass vaccination centres will not be offering drop-in sessions on 15 and 20 December, however some community vaccinations will continue.

All urgent and emergency care services will continue as normal. If you are unwell and unsure what to do, you can visit the online symptom checker (opens in new tab) or call NHS 111. The Minor Injury Units at acute hospital sites will be open as usual. Opening hours for community walk-in services can be found on the health board’s website (opens in new tab). Please attend an Emergency Department, or call 999, if you have a life-threatening illness or serious injury, such as: 

  • Severe breathing difficulties 
  • Severe pain or bleeding 
  • Chest pain or a suspected stroke 
  • Serious trauma injuries (e.g., from a car crash). 

If you are unsure, please contact the health board’s communication hub on 0300 3038322 (option 5 – other services) or email ask.hdd@wales.nhs.uk for further information and guidance. Staff at the communication hub are available to answer calls between 8am-5pm Monday to Friday and 9am-4pm on the weekend.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your support and patience.