00:00 We just had a really busy Christmas and New Year period. Our NHS staff have coped magnificently
00:05 with the pressures over that period, but we're now facing six days of industrial action by
00:10 junior doctors. That's the longest period of industrial action in NHS history and of
00:14 course it's at a time when the NHS is always very busy with winter pressures, viruses such
00:19 as Covid and flu. So there's no doubt it's going to be challenging.
00:23 Well going into the Christmas period we saw flu and Covid rising and I'm sure that will
00:27 continue for the first week or two of the new year. That means more activity, more people
00:33 coming to seek our services in the NHS, but it also means that more staff will be off
00:38 sick as well. And that means that we're going to see a lot of pressure over the next six
00:43 days. We've been working hard with hospitals, with local healthcare systems to ensure that
00:47 emergency services continue. The message to the public as always is for life-threatening
00:53 conditions please use A&E, dial 999, but for everything else, non-life-threatening conditions,
00:59 then 111 online, first port of call or phone 111.
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