Patients and visitors

For our latest visiting guidance, please view our visiting information page

BMA resident doctors have announced strikes from 7am on 7 April until 7am on 13 April.

What if I have an appointment planned during the industrial action?

We will have to cancel some appointments and planned operations to help us keep our patients safe. We know this may be disappointing and concerning for people waiting for treatment and we are sorry this is the case. We will re-arrange appointments as quickly as we can.

We are contacting patients whose operation or appointment has been cancelled.

If you don’t hear from us, please attend your hospital appointments as planned. 

If you have any questions about your planned operation or appointment during this time please call the telephone number included on your appointment letter.

What if I need medical care? 

Our Emergency Departments will stay open for people who need life-saving treatment or emergency care during the industrial action. It's very likely that there will be long waits to be seen if you attend our emergency departments while the industrial action is happening. 

If you need non-emergency medical care or advice, please call the NHS 111 helpline, or visit NHS 111 Online. NHS 111 is available to make it easier and quicker for patients to get the right advice or treatment for their physical or mental health, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

Contact NHS 111 if:

1. You need medical help fast, but it's not a 999 emergency. 
2. You don't know who to call for medical help or you don't have a GP to call. 
3. You think you need to go to A&E or another NHS urgent care service; or. 
4. You need health information or reassurance about what to do next. 

You can read more information about choosing the right services when you're feeling unwell on the Mid and South Essex ICS website at https://www.midandsouthessex.ics.nhs.uk/health/support. 

NHS England wait times 

The ‘My Planned Care’ section of the NHS UK website shows the average waiting times by speciality for outpatient appointments and treatment. Visit the website  https://www.myplannedcare.nhs.uk/east/mid-south-essex/ 

Please be aware that the My Planned Care website shows the average waiting time for all sub-specialties within the clinical specialities across all three of our main hospital locations. This calculation is based on the data our Trust supplies and it is accurate. However, the average includes clinically urgent patients who will be seen more quickly. Also within each specialty, there will be some sub-specialties with longer waiting times than others depending on the demand for the service and our capacity within the service.

Martha’s Rule (Call for Concern)

Martha’s Rule gives patients and their loved ones the right to request an urgent review if they have concerns about a patient’s deteriorating condition. We are in the process of rolling out Martha’s Rule across our adult inpatient wards. We will be trialling it across our paediatric inpatient wards during spring/summer 2025.

About Martha Mills 

Martha Mills died aged 13 in 2021, after developing sepsis in hospital. She had been admitted with an injury to her pancreas after falling off her bike. Martha’s family’s concerns about her deteriorating condition were not responded to and, in 2023, a coroner ruled that Martha would probably have survived had she been moved to intensive care earlier.

To find out more information about patient transport and the support that you can get, please visit https://www.midandsouthessex.ics.nhs.uk/health/support/transport.