OPERATIONS in Dorset are set to be cancelled as junior doctors prepare to strike next week.

Hospital chiefs are holding emergency meetings to ensure patients get the care they need over fears of major disruption to NHS patients.

It comes after hundreds of operations were put back last month before doctors agreed to cancel three proposed strikes and re-enter talks with the government.

However the three weeks of talks have broken down and the British Medical Association has announced doctors will walk out from 8am on Tuesday, January 12, for 24 hours.

This will be followed by a 48-hour stoppage and the provision of emergency care only from 8am on Tuesday, January 26. On Wednesday, February 10, there will be a full withdrawal of labour from 8am to 5pm if no agreement is reached in the contract dispute.

Campaigners in Dorset fear patients are being unfairly caught in the middle.

Martyn Webster, Healthwatch Dorset manager, said: "Nobody wants this strike to happen and it’s very disappointing that despite long negotiations it’s come to this.

"It’s not in patients’ interests for healthcare staff to be overworked and demoralised, but everybody involved must remember that their first and overriding responsibility is to patients, their care and their safety.

"Nothing must happen which might compromise that."

BMA chairman Dr Mark Porter said junior doctors "had been left with no option" but to take action over new working hours and pay in their contracts.

Several weeks of negotiations took place in the lead up to Christmas but the strikes were called on Monday after both sides failed to reach a deal on out of hours pay.

However, both sides have indicated they want to keep talking ahead of next week’s strike so there is the possibility the strikes could be averted at the 11th hour.

The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals Trust said they are writing to patients to confirm the cancellation of some planned appointments and procedures.

Meanwhile consultants and other clinical staff will cover junior doctor roles to ensure emergency services and patients staying in hospital will be unaffected.

Robert Talbot, medical director at Poole Hospital, said they were "working closely" with junior doctors and the BMA but have not yet cancelled any appointments.

He added: "We remain committed to ensuring that our patients are safe at all times and that with a planned and measured approach we hope to be able to minimise any disruption on our services next week."