Health officials are urging residents in Crawley to use medical services carefully during six days of planned industrial action by resident doctors, which begins on 7 April 2026.
The British Medical Association has called for national strike action starting at 7am on Tuesday, 7 April, until 6.59am on Monday, 13 April. The NHS Surrey and Sussex, a newly merged health board, warned that while essential services will continue, the walkout is expected to place significant pressure on local healthcare resources.
Professor Andrew Rhodes, Joint Chief Medical Officer for the area, advised that the NHS has plans in place to manage the period, but asked the public to consider alternatives to hospital emergency departments for non-urgent care. Residents are encouraged to use NHS 111 for advice or visit a local pharmacy for minor health conditions through the Pharmacy First service, which provides support for issues such as sore throats, earaches, and urinary tract infections.
For those needing urgent but non-life-threatening care, the Crawley Urgent Treatment Centre at Crawley Hospital on West Green Drive remains open seven days a week from 7:30am to 10pm. Officials stressed that anyone facing a life-threatening emergency should continue to call 999 or attend an accident and emergency department as usual.
Patients should continue to attend scheduled appointments unless they are directly contacted by the NHS to cancel. Additionally, those suffering from infectious illnesses such as norovirus, flu, or COVID-19 are asked to avoid visiting healthcare settings to protect others, particularly as norovirus cases have recently led to visiting restrictions at the Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.
About this article: This story was put together with the help of AI tools and checked by a real person on our team. We're a small crew trying to cover as much of the UK as we can on a limited budget. We're getting better every day - but we're not perfect yet. If something looks off, let us know. You're part of the process.
