Strikes by NHS workers have been blamed for the region's biggest hospital missing a key waiting list target - as more doctors prepare to take to the picket lines this week.
Today marks the beginning of a 96-hour junior doctor strike organised by the British Medical Association, which will see a walk-out last until Saturday.
The dispute, which is largely over calls for an inflating-busting pay increase, has led to thousands of NHS appointments being rescheduled.
And bosses at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (N&N) say this has prevented the site from finally clearing a backlog left by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over the past three years, the hospital has been battling to get through a list of thousands of patients who have been waiting more than 18-months for treatment.
The hospital had been working towards a national NHS target to clear this list by April 2023 and its chief executive Sam Higginson told fellow board members it was well on course to achieve this goal.
However, he said the industrial action was to blame for this target being missed - with 169 patients remaining on the list.
He said: "We set out with a start of 27,000 people needed to treat this year and were well on track to deliver this.
"However, because of the industrial action, there were still 169 patients who were not able to be treated [by the April deadline]."
Mr Higginson did, however, say the hospital trust remained supportive of the rights of its workers to take part in industrial action if they see fit - and called for a solution to be found nationally.
Tom Spinks, the N&N's chairman, said: "That 169 [patients] would have been zero were it not for the industrial action."
The James Paget in Gorleston has also missed the April target, with 36 of its patients having waited more than 78 weeks for their treatment.
However, recent board papers for the hospital trust did not blame the industrial action - instead attributing it to pressures on emergency services and troubles in its gynaecology department.
The report reads: "Operational challenges from urgent and emergency care continue to impact on the hospital, with the quality and safety metrics largely remain unchanged.
"Significant capacity gaps in our gynaecology service make reaching the 78-week waiting times target unlikely.
"Work is ongoing to book these patients during April."
Meanwhile, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in King's Lynn has confirmed that it did meet the target.
Helen Blanchard, interim chief nurse at the QEH, said: "We will prioritise resources to protect emergency treatment, critical care, neonatal care, maternity and trauma and ensure we prioritise patients who have waited to longest for elective care and cancer surgery.
"Unfortunately, some elective care will be cancelled, however, we will only cancel appointments and procedures were it is necessary and will reschedule immediately, where possible.
"Patients should continue to attend appointments as planned unless contacted to reschedule, and nobody should put off seeking urgent or emergency care.”
Frankie Swords, executive medical director at NHS Norfolk and Waveney has reiterated calls for people to assume appointments are going ahead unless told otherwise.
She said that previously periods of industrial action had seen an increased number of no-shows.
She said: "Our services are there if you need them over the bank holiday and during upcoming industrial action, so please do not delay if you need urgent or emergency medical help – we are there to support you."
The latest junior doctor strike is scheduled to begin at 7am today - Tuesday, April 11 - with union members due to return to work at 7am on Saturday, April 15.
Nursing strikes remain on hold while members of the Royal College of Nursing prepare to vote on a reviewed pay offer from the government.
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