Hospitals are facing a backlog after hundreds of appointments were cancelled at Kirklees and Calderdale hospitals during the junior doctors’ strike.
About 400 out of 1,400 appointments, scheduled for Tuesday at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and Calderdale Royal Hospital, Halifax, were postponed.
An additional 13 scheduled operations were also put on ice.
The hospitals’ medical director, David Birkenhead, said the trust would be making ‘every effort’ to reschedule the appointments in a timely manner.
He said: “All emergency care and the majority of our outpatient appointments went ahead as we had plans in place to keep disruption for our patients to a minimum.
“With regret, we had to cancel around 400 outpatient appointments out of total of 1,400 and 13 operations. We will be making every effort to reschedule these appointments in the coming days and weeks.”
Meanwhile, Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust, which runs three hospitals including Dewsbury District Hospital, cancelled 292 appointments including 13 operations.
The Trust’s Medical Director, Dr Karen Stone, said: Our focus is to ensure we can provide a safe service for patients and that anyone who needs help in an emergency can get it.
“We have written to all patients who are affected by the strike to let them know what to do.
“As ever, we encourage people with minor injuries and illnesses to think about whether they really need to go to A&E, or whether they would get more appropriate treatment at another NHS service such as a local pharmacist, walk-in centre or by calling 111.”
