Patients told to 'drive to hospital' during 999 strike as senior NHS source warns elderly could be 'trapped in wards'

18 December 2022, 22:54 | Updated: 18 December 2022, 22:59

Elderly people ready to be sent home could be 'trapped' in hospital wards over Christmas during strikes by nurses and paramedics, a leading NHS official has warned.

Hospitals were told to send patients home before the weekend in a bid to limit crowds in overstuffed A&E departments.

The unnamed senior NHS official told The Telegraph: “There’s a risk with the strikes that problems with discharges will be accentuated, and therefore there is a risk that some elderly people end up in hospital over Christmas.”

Tens of thousands of nurses are set to strike over pay and working conditions on Tuesday.

Paramedics and 999 call handlers will walk out the following day.

It's the first such strike in three decades.

Read more: 'Empty your beds before next week's ambulance strike,' hospitals told, as 'extensive disruption' looms

Read more: Nurses 19% pay deal is 'unaffordable' health sec insists as placard-waving medics launch biggest ever NHS strike

Cabinet minister Oliver Dowden told the BBC yesterday that in the event of ambulance shortages during 999 strike action, "you should see to make your way to hospital on your own".

He said: "We are working to ensure that if you have a serious injury, in particular a life-threatening injury, you can continue to rely on the ambulance service, and we would urge people in those circumstances to dial 999.

“If it is the case that you have less serious injuries, you should be in touch with 111, and you should seek to make your way to hospital on your own if you are able to do so.”

Over the weekend NHS chiefs warned nurses will go on strike again in January unless the government goes back to the negotiating table.

Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said: "Unless the Government indicates a willingness to negotiate on pay-related matters, further strike dates will be announced by the RCN for Jan 2023 and beyond. 

"It is likely that these strikes will be for a longer time period on each occasion and will cover a greater number of organisations in England."

Nurses have complained of burnout amid huge pressures on the NHS and after two years of Covid-19.

Vacancies for nursing jobs reached 47,000 in September - a record high.

But NHS bosses are worried that this month's strikes will affect patients' safety, with thousands of non-urgent operations cancelled and many more outpatient appointments also having to be rescheduled.

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