Junior doctor strikes "extremely challenging" for Hull hospitals
Strikes are expected to be the longest in NHS history, with knock-on effects for staff and patients.
Long wait times at A&E and doctors under "a lot of pressure" is what people can expect from the latest junior doctors' strikes according to Professor Makani Purva, Chief Medical Officer at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Services at Hull Royal Infirmary, Castle Hill Hospital and Hull Women and Children's Hospital are set to be severely disrupted by the strike action, with the potential for several hundred junior doctors to walk out.
Professor Makani Purva said: "It's extremely challenging that we are having the five day strike, and having it over the weekend.
"It puts the system under an extraordinary amount of pressure. We have to be extra careful that we are looking after our patients."
She urged for an agreement to be made, and said: "Junior doctors are a very important part of our workforce and they should be supported and an appropriate solution needs to be found quickly.
"It is very difficult to cope with these ongoing strikes."
The British Medical Association (BMA) want junior doctor pay to be restored to 2008 levels, which would mean a 35% pay increase. However, the BMA has also said that it would cancel strikes if the government matched the Scottish pay offer of 12.4%.
BMA leaders Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said:“We can call this strike off today if the UK Government will simply follow the example of the government in Scotland and drop their nonsensical precondition of not talking whilst strikes are announced and produce an offer which is credible to the doctors they are speaking with.
Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “It is disappointing that the BMA is going ahead with further strike action. This five-day walkout by junior doctors will have an impact on thousands of patients, put patient safety at risk and hamper efforts to cut NHS waiting lists.
The five days of junior doctors' strikes will be followed by two days of consultants' strikes on 20 and 21 July.