Worried hospital bosses have pleaded with the public to support the NHS over the Easter weekend and next week's planned junior doctors strikes - which they fear "will have an inevitable and noticeable impact" on patient care.
A joint-statement from the region's "provider collaborative" - made up of hospital trusts, mental health trusts and the ambulance service - said that junior doctors were "vital and much valued" and to be missing them next week would be a "deep worry". Senior NHS leaders in the region fear that the strike taking place during the Easter school holidays means consultants have been less available to cover for striking colleagues.
As a result, the public has been warned there are likely to be "knock on consequences" for patients and staff next week. The North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) which has also urged members of the public to prepare for the next week, stock up their medicine cabinets and take care about using the right NHS services for their problem.
