MORE than 380 procedures and appointments at Airedale Hospital were hit by this week's junior doctors strike.

The first all-out walkout by junior doctors in NHS history took place on Tuesday and yesterday.

The action was the latest in a series of strikes in an increasingly bitter dispute regarding new contracts due to be imposed from next summer.

Stacey Hunter, director of operations at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said all urgent and emergency care went ahead this week.

But she added: "There was a need to rearrange about 35 non-emergency operations and approximately 350 outpatient appointments.

“Anyone whose appointment or operation was affected was contacted.

“We are sorry for the inconvenience and will do our best to reschedule these as soon as possible.”

Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, which runs a mental health centre in the Airedale Hospital grounds, said it had to postpone two appointments.

The Department of Health said the industrial action put “patients in harm’s way”, but one junior doctor said the strike was in response to the NHS being “eroded piece by piece”.

The strike came as Airedale Hospital reported a nine per cent increase in patients accessing its emergency departments between January and last month, compared to the same period last year.

James Rowley, a junior doctor, said he is concerned the dispute is being painted as purely being about doctors’ pay.

"Doctors’ contracts are just the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

“People are using the NHS more than ever before, but we are stretched to breaking point.”

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “We have continually sought a negotiated solution during three years of talks, during which there were two walkouts from the British Medical Association, and now there’s only the one issue of Saturday pay outstanding."