PATIENTS are being warned that a raft of upcoming appointments at Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke's Hospital will have to be cancelled.
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has outlined how a five-day strike by junior doctors will impact services it runs.
Junior doctors will take part in industrial action from 7am on Thursday, June 27 to 7am on Tuesday, July 2.
A spokesperson for the Trust said: "We will be making some cancellations and affected patients who are due to attend an appointment and/or receive treatment at our hospitals over this period have been contacted.
"We would like to apologise for any inconvenience these rearrangements may cause.
"If you do not hear from us, your appointment/treatment will be going ahead as planned, so please attend as normal.
"Please only come to A&E if you have a life or limb-threatening emergencies as if you attend with a non-urgent or emergency condition you will be waiting significantly longer than usual.
"If you need medical help or advice or are unsure about whether you should go to hospital, visit NHS 111 online unless it is a life-threatening emergency when you should still call 999. GP services and pharmacies are also available for patients and can be accessed in the normal way."
Last week, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said that the Government cannot make an offer to medics during the pre-election period as she warned that the walkout will cause “real harm” to patients.
It comes as the Patients Association said that the “only thing” that the strike by members of the British Medical Association (BMA) will achieve is “disruption to patient care”.
“The timing of the action, with the UK now in a pre-election period and no government for the BMA to negotiate with, means there is no possibility for talks to prevent these strikes,” the organisation said in a statement.
“The only thing the planned five-day strike at the end of June will achieve is disruption to patient care as appointments and procedures need to be rescheduled. Patients’ health will be compromised.”
It comes after junior doctors offered Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a “final chance” to avoid the fresh wave of strikes in their long-running dispute over pay.
The union offered to call off strikes if they get a commitment “in writing to a detailed pathway that will restore our pay in the form of a comprehensive deal that will be implemented if you are able to form the next government”.
In response, Ms Atkins said that the “cynical” strikes “will harm patients”.
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