Critical incident declared before hospital strikes

One of Greater Manchester's largest NHS trusts across the region has declared a critical incident ahead of three days of strikes.

More than 350 workers at Salford Royal Hospital, Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary and Fairfield Hospital in Bury are due to strike on Monday, Wednesday and Friday in a dispute over pay for covering staff shortages.

The Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA) said declaring a critical incident would help it get extra support to keep urgent surgery running, although some procedures would be postponed.

Unison said it remained willing to negotiate with the trust, where four strikes were held in June.

The trust apologised for the impact on patients and said those affected by changes to surgery, treatment or appointments would be contacted directly.

It said patients did not need to call to check.

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