A warning over capacity in A&E was made by North Cumbria Integrated Care (NCIC) as the affect of the junior doctor’s strike was felt in the county.

NCIC told residents to only attend A&E if their condition and symptoms were “life threatening” and to use Urgent Treatment Centres in Penrith until and Keswick where they would be seen ‘quicker’.

In a social media post, NCIC said: “Our A&E departments are extremely busy today, only attend if your condition is life threatening.

“If your condition is urgent but not life threatening, you can use our Urgent Treatment Centres in Penrith until 10pm and Keswick until 6pm, where you will be seen much quicker.

“No matter how busy our A&E departments are, the most seriously ill and injured patients will always be seen first and as quickly as possible.

“If you do come to A&E with a condition that is not life-threatening, you may experience a long wait.”

Last week, Cumbrian health leaders called on patients to use 999 or A&E for life-threatening conditions only as the region's NHS prepared for more industrial action by junior doctors.

Junior doctors in the British Medical Association (BMA) walked out on strike action across the country for five days, between 7am on Thursday, June 27 and 7am on Tuesday, July 2.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has previously called for a 35 per cent pay rise for junior doctors which they say would make up for ‘15 years of below-inflation wage rises’ which has caused a ‘recruitment and retention crisis’ in the NHS.

Junior doctors make up around half of the doctors in the NHS. They are qualified doctors who have up to eight years' experience as a hospital doctor, or up to three years in general practice.

Junior doctors received a pay rise which, on average, was worth around 9 per cent in the last financial year.

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“No doctor wants to strike – not this time nor the ten rounds of action before it,” said BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi.

“We have been forced to this position by more than a decade of savage pay cuts, and nothing would make us happier than returning to work this week with a commitment to pay restoration."