A TOTAL of 7,000 hospital appointments were cancelled in Oxfordshire during the latest junior doctors strike.

Thousands of junior doctors, including 2,000 in the Thames Valley, took part in the first full withdrawal of services in any NHS history.

The strike on April 26 and April 27 was the fifth industrial action in over the ongoing row between medics and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt about a new junior doctors contract.

The two sides got back around the table on Monday after Mr Hunt suspended his decision to impose the contract.

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's board of director heard yesterday how 7,000 appointments had been cancelled during the two-day walk-out.

Clinical services director Paul Brennan said the full effect on the trust hitting targets such as waiting times for cancer appointments will not be known until the next board meeting.

He added: "A challenge for us is the implications of the industrial action at the end of April.

"While we have managed carefully the impact, we did cancel around 7,000 episodes.

"I cannot say at this moment what the implications will be."

The board heard how the cancelled appointments were a mix of new and follow-up outpatients, diagnostic appointments, inpatients and day-elective procedures.

The British Medical Association (BMA) confirmed it was re-entering negotiations with the Government over the junior doctors contract on Monday.

Mr Hunt insists the contract gives doctors a pay rise and will lead to a 24/7 NHS, but junior doctors claim it is unsafe for staff and patients by stretching staff too thinly across the week.