Junior doctors began a strike at 7am on Tuesday, which will continue until the morning of Saturday 15 April.

NHS staff have been asked to prioritise emergency and urgent care over routine appointments and procedures. Appointments and operations will only be cancelled where unavoidable and patients will be offered an alternative date as soon as possible.

People who need care will should still access it in the same way.

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, national medical director for the NHS in England, said: “The NHS has been preparing extensively for the next set of strikes but managing additional pressure doesn’t get easier as time goes by – it gets much more difficult – not only due to the sheer number of appointments that need to be rescheduled but also that they can take time to rearrange with multiple teams involved.

“This is set to be the most disruptive industrial action in NHS history, and the strikes [...] will bring immense pressures, coming on the back of a challenged extended bank holiday weekend for staff and services. Emergency, urgent and critical care will be prioritised but some patients will unfortunately have had their appointments postponed – if you haven’t, please do continue to come forward.

“As ever, use 999 and A&E for life threatening emergencies but use NHS 111 online for all other health conditions.”