THOUSANDS of patients have had their operations and appointments cancelled despite a strike by junior doctors being called off - including a number in South Somerset.

A temporary agreement reached on Monday night between Government officials, the British Medical Association (BMA) and NHS Employers means three days of strikes will now no longer go ahead, as long as a final settlement can be agreed.

The dispute is over new pay and working conditions for junior doctors working in the NHS.

Speaking yesterday on the morning of the proposed strikes, Simon Blackburn, associate director of communications at Yeovil Hospital, said: “The plan originally was for the strike to take place from 8am.”

Six planned operations and three outpatient clinics were cancelled in anticipation of the strikes.

“We have been planning for this for the last couple of weeks working with junior doctors and other clinical staff and other doctors and the nursing team so that planning has been underway for some time now,” Mr Blackburn added.

At Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, around a dozen operations have been postponed together with a "number of outpatient clinics".

Strikes were set to take place on three days, providing emergency care only for 24 hours from 8am on December 1, followed by full walkouts from 8am to 5pm on December 8 and 16.

These have been suspended temporarily, to allow negotations to take place.

There has already been mass disruption to the service, with thousands of patients across the country unable to undergo operations or attend appointments on Tuesday alone.

A snapshot survey of almost 20 NHS trusts revealed around 600 operations and procedures cancelled alongside around 3,500 outpatient appointments.