Senior medics in Newcastle said the city's hospitals coped "pretty much without incident" during the first wave of junior doctors' strike action - but worried that the 96-hour strike planned for April could be a "different kettle of fish".
Speaking at a board meeting of the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust last week, executives spoke of the extensive planning that had gone into the three-day strike which took place in March, and which was now going into preparing for the action announced for April 11 to April 15.
The board heard that while there had been some cancelled procedures, some elective operations had still gone ahead. Dame Jackie Daniel - the trust's chief executive - said she wanted to say "a massive thank you" to all who covered for the striking doctors or who was involved in planning. The trust runs the Freeman Hospital and the Royal Victoria Infirmary.
