Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to protect patients during the planned strike by resident doctors in England in July.

The priority is to keep patients as safe as possible during any industrial action. The National Health Service makes every effort through rigorous contingency planning to minimise disruptions and their impact on patients and the public during industrial action.

The NHS works hard to prioritise resources to protect emergency treatment, critical care, neonatal care, maternity, and trauma, and to ensure that patients who have waited the longest for elective care and cancer surgery are prioritised.