Update on planned industrial action – Thursday 26 January 2023

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapists (CSP) has announced that its members will be striking at 30 NHS organisations, including Medway NHS Foundation Trust, on Thursday 26 January 2023.

We value our colleagues and respect their right to strike. While pay is a matter for Government and the trade union we want to see a resolution as soon as possible.

We want to reassure our patients, their families and carers that our priority is to continue to provide safe care for those who need it during the strike action.

To help us safely manage the impact an emergency respiratory on call service will operate. This means that while critical respiratory interventions will be delivered, non-critical interventions including initial and post-operative assessments, rehabilitation and some discharge assessments, may be delayed. While we understand this may be frustrating, especially for those who are delayed from being discharged home, the decision is necessary to ensure safe care continues to be available for all patients. The therapy teams will work to ensure that any inpatients requiring assessment will be seen as quickly as possible after Thursday 26 January.

We are advising outpatients who have an appointment on the day to still attend as planned unless they hear from us.

Regardless of any strike action, our Emergency Department remains open if you or someone you care for needs urgent medical care so please do come forward, especially in emergency and life-threatening cases.

If you need medical help but it’s not urgent, then your local pharmacy, Minor Injuries Unit or GP will be best-placed to help. If unsure where to get support, please visit NHS 111 or call 111, for advice and to be directed to the best place for the care you need.

We would like to remind all patients and visitors to our site to treat our staff with kindness and respect in the run up to, during and after industrial action has taken place.

Thank you for your understanding.