Hospital bosses at East Cheshire NHS Trust are urging the public to take emergency-only visits to A&E during the Junior Doctor strike.

Macclesfield residents are being urged to only visit A&E in an emergency whilst a the latest Junior Doctor strike takes place.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has confirmed junior doctors will take to the pickets on 7am on Saturday 24 February to 11.59pm on Wednesday 28 February.

The industrial action – coming during the busy winter period for the NHS, will impact all East Cheshire NHS Trust sites including Macclesfield District General Hospital, Knutsford District and Community Hospital, and Congleton War Memorial Hospital, and is likely to cause significant disruption.

This means that, for striking staff, all work including nights, on-call shifts, and non-resident work will stop.

Dr John Hunter, Medical Director for East Cheshire NHS Trust, said: "We are working closely with partners to ensure appropriate plans are enacted to deal with this disruption."

"We are also working closely with union representatives to maintain the safety and welfare of our patients during planned staff walkouts, and to ensure any impact on our services are minimised."

"Junior doctors are an important part of the team and work in almost every part of a busy hospital, including in A&E, maintaining the flow of patients through the hospital and ensuring beds are available for those who need them the most."

"During the upcoming industrial, we would like to urge local residents to only call 999 or attend our Emergency Department in a life-threatening emergency. Typical emergencies include cardiac arrest, loss of consciousness, fits that are not stopping, breathing difficulties, severe bleeding, allergic reactions and serious head injuries."

For non-urgent concerns, please seek help from NHS 111 online, or contact your GP and pharmacist.

The NHS will do everything it can to go ahead with planned procedures during industrial action - especially for patients in greatest clinical need. The NHS will also contact you if your appointment needs to be rescheduled. If you have not been contacted, please attend your appointment as planned.