Junior doctor strike led to more than 8,300 cancellations across Staffordshire and the Black Country

It includes people who were waiting for operations and other treatments as well as scans and follow-up appointments.

There were 1,169 appointments which had to be rescheduled at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust; 750 at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust; 606 at Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust; 1,394 at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and 4,413 at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust.

Junior doctors walked out for four days last week, with picket lines forming outside hospitals across the region.

Across England, more than 196,000 hospital appointments had to be cancelled because of last week's strike action.

It is the greatest number of cancellations so far in the NHS pay dispute, although the true scale of the disruption is likely to be higher as many hospitals had cut back ahead of the strike to minimise last-minute postponements.

Health bosses in the region said the trusts try and rearrange appointments as quickly as possible and thanked patients for their understanding.

Diane Wake, elective care lead for the Black Country, said: “During the recent industrial action we were focused on protecting urgent and emergency services and as a result a number of appointments and operations across the Black Country needed to be rescheduled.

“We'd like to say a huge thank to all of our hard-working staff and volunteers who have kept patients safe during this busy period.

"We'd also like to thank patients who have had their appointments rescheduled for their understanding and the public for their help in using NHS services appropriately.

“We know it will be disappointing for patients who have had their appointments rescheduled and we will rearrange the appointments as quickly as possible.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said it was "deeply disappointing" that hundreds of thousands of appointments and procedures had to be cancelled as a result of the industrial action.

"This walkout clearly had an impact on many patients as well as hampering our efforts to cut NHS waiting lists," he said.

“We remain ready to start formal talks with the BMA as soon as the union pauses its strikes and moves significantly from its unrealistic position of demanding a 35 per cent pay increase – which would result in some junior doctors receiving a pay rise of £20,000.

“Thank you to all the staff who have worked tirelessly to cover for striking junior doctors during this period.”

In response, the British Medical Association urged the government to 'drop their barriers to talks and meet with us in good faith'.

In a joint statement, BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson said: “Persistent under-resourcing of the health service and under-valuing staff – exacerbated by a pandemic – mean we simply don’t have the workforce and capacity to provide the high-quality and timely care that patients need and deserve.

“This is why we have been led to strike, and while we are of course sorry to anyone who had their care disrupted, this is the same apology we’re already having to give to patients on a daily basis because the NHS cannot cope.

“The Secretary of State said in the House of Commons that he recognised ‘junior doctors have been under significant pay pressure and workforce pressure’ which is ‘why he wants to sit down with them’. This is an incredible act of double-speak, given his lack of engagement with us so far indicates the exact opposite.

“While we have said we are happy to talk any time, anywhere, Mr Barclay continues to demand that we drop our opening position of calling for a reversal of the pay erosion experienced by junior doctors before he will even enter discussions. This does not sound like someone who understands the pay pressures junior doctors are under, nor someone who wants to sit down with us."