PATIENTS staying away from Bradford's hard-pressed emergency department helped contingency plans work well during the two-day junior doctors' strike, according to hospital bosses.

New plans are now in place to cope with any knock-on effect from the strike as things return to normal, says Bernie Bluhm, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s interim director of operational development.

More than 1,400 operations and appointments had to be re-scheduled by the district's three hospitals during Tuesday and Wednesday's full walk-out by junior doctors - the first in NHS history.

The dispute surrounding new contracts set to be imposed from next summer on doctors working up to consultant level caused the cancellation of 1,067 operations and appointments scheduled to take place at Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI) and St Luke's Hospital.

Mr Bluhm said: “The contingency plans we put in place to ensure that medical cover continued during the two-day junior doctors strike worked well.

"This was helped by a reduction in the number of people attending our emergency department on Tuesday and our hospitals were also generally quieter than usual. New plans are now in place to cope with any knock-on effect from the strike as the Trust resumes normal working patterns."

At Airedale General Hospital, around 385 procedures and appointments were affected by the strike. Stacey Hunter, director of operations at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said all essential services continued as normal and added: "We are sorry for the inconvenience for those patient whose appointments or procedures have been affected and will do our best to reschedule these as soon as possible.”

Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust's medical director Dr Andy McElligott said only a small number of outpatient clinics had to be rescheduled.

Dr Rob Holt, a junior doctor working at Airedale, said: "No junior doctor wanted to see patients inconvenienced by delays to operations and appointments but we felt we didn't have any other choice.

"The dispute isn't just over pay, there are other issues including gender inequality and because of our action that matter is now going to the European Council for Human Rights so we do think we're seeing benefits and we are slowly moving forward although there's still quite a way to go. The passion is still there."

Dr Kyan Zarbalian, a junior doctor working in Bradford, said: "We are still united and in favour of not succumbing but it doesn't seem the Government has an appetite for discussion. Personally, I think a pilot scheme of the new contract would be the most sensible way forward."