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LONDON — Brits have been urged to “drink responsibly” and avoid “risky activities” during pre-Christmas celebrations to avoid trips to the emergency room as thousands of ambulance workers take strike action over pay disputes.
“There is no doubt that the NHS is facing extreme pressure and industrial action will add to the already record demand we are seeing on urgent and emergency care,” said NHS Medical Director Professor Stephen Powis. He added that the public can help in several ways including “drinking responsibly” to ease strain on emergency services.
Speaking on BBC radio, Powis said, “Don’t get so drunk that you end up with an unnecessary visit to A &E.”
Over 10,000 emergency workers and NHS staff across England and Wales are expected to partake in two days of industrial action over an ongoing pay dispute. The strikes are part of Britain’s most significant wave of industrial action in a generation, with mail workers, rail workers, barristers and other public service workers all holding walkouts this winter demanding pay rises in line with inflation.
“On health grounds alone, it is clear we have entered dangerous territory,” says Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation.
