Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential risk to patient care from industrial action in the NHS.

Employers and trade unions will discuss local derogations, which will identify which services are exempt from strike action in order to protect patient safety. Realistically, some procedures and appointments will need to be postponed, this is why we’re asking unions to carefully consider the impact on patients.

The Department is working closely with NHS England who are accountable for operational planning and assurance in the event of any industrial action.

Exercise ‘Arctic Willow’, a multi-day exercise for Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), working with trusts, is currently taking place. This will test the system to ensure services can respond to multiple, concurrent events. Data from this exercise will be coordinated through ICBs and returned to NHS England. Findings will be complete by mid-December.