A three-day strike from junior doctors saw thousands of people in Norfolk and Waveney miss out on vital appointments - with bosses bracing themselves for another walk-out next month.

Latest figures have shown that industrial action held across three days in March saw 4,736 appointments rescheduled as hundreds of junior doctors took to the picket lines.

The strikes, organised by the British Medical Association, saw more than 3,000 appointments in total put off at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital alone.

Eastern Daily Press:

And with junior doctors preparing for a 96-hour walk-out between April 11 and 15, patients are being warned to prepare for further disruption.

The strike, held between March 13 and 15, was the latest industrial action to hit the NHS, following demonstrations held by the Royal College of Nursing earlier this year.

Over this period, the N&N was forced to move 2,976 appointments for outpatients and 475 in-patient treatments.

Eastern Daily Press:

The Queen Elizabeth in King's Lynn rescheduled 882 outpatient appointments and 50 inpatient treatments, while the James Paget in Gorleston postponed 262 outpatient and 81 inpatient appointments.

The numbers were considerably higher at the N&N due to its larger catchment area and its role as the regional centre for certain specialist forms of care.

The types of appointments cancelled would likely have included elective procedures like knee and hip replacements, routine check-ups, and rehabilitation clinics.

Eastern Daily Press:

The figures make the junior doctors strike the most disruptive of the ongoing NGS pay disputes this far. 

Across four days of nursing strikes earlier this year, 1,506 appointments in total were postponed - although the King's Lynn and Gorleston hospitals were not participating in the demonstrations.

However, other NHS strikes - involving nurses and ambulance staff - have been put on hold while union members vote on a new pay offer made by the government.