TRAINS are set to be called off, hospital appointments cancelled and schools closed as a week of strike action is predicted to cause mayhem for thousands across Dorset.

Junior doctors, railway workers and teachers will all walk out in a dispute over pay and conditions in what is set to be a period of mass disruption, with workers claiming their wages do not reflect rising costs.

The NHS is set to be the first impacted, with junior doctors from the British Medical Association union walking out for three days from today (Monday, March 13) until Wednesday, March 15 having voted in favour of industrial action earlier this month.

Picket lines are planned at Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester from 7.30am-12pm on each day, and a spokesman for the hospital said that its focus is to prioritise ‘emergency and life-threatening’ care.

"This means local hospitals may postpone appointments and some surgeries as medical teams support other departments,” it warned, adding people should check voicemails before attending appointments.

NHS Dorset's chief operating officer, Dean Spencer, said: “Our health and care services are under significant pressure, so I am asking people to help us by choosing the right service for your needs when you need them."

Advice includes calling 111 for other non-emergency care needs and visiting a local pharmacy, while mental health support is available by calling 0800 652 0190.

On the trains, railway workers who are part of the RMT union are set to continue their long-running dispute with the Government by striking again this week.

There will be no trains between Dorset and London for two days as industrial action is set to go ahead on Thursday, March 16 and Saturday, March 18.

South Western Railway (SWR) – which operates services from Dorset to London - has announced it will be forced to run a severely reduced service on walk-out days.

Those hoping to travel to the capital will need to catch a train from Southampton Central to London Waterloo - with two trains running per hour in each direction.

Services will then begin later on Friday, March 17, with the first trains starting at around 7am. A normal Sunday timetable will run on Sunday, March 19.

Great Western Railway (GWR) – which runs trains between Weymouth and Bristol - will also run an ‘extremely limited service’ with routes starting at 7.30am and completed by around 7.30pm.

There will be no scheduled services running between Weymouth and Bristol Temple Meads on strike days, the operator said.

Passengers are being urged to check before travelling, and to only travel if absolutely necessary.

Meanwhile, in the education sector, hundreds of teachers from Dorset who are members of the National Education Union will walk out of the classroom on Wednesday, March 15 and Thursday, March 16.

Coaches will be taking teachers to London for a rally on Wednesday, where they will join thousands of others for a march starting in Hyde Park.

Three coaches will depart Weymouth, Dorchester and Wimborne at 7am and return at about 9pm, leaving about 25 schools in the county affected by closure or part-closure. Picket lines outside schools have not been confirmed.

It comes just weeks after previous teacher strike action took place in Dorset earlier in March.

President of the Dorset National Education Union (NEU), Mark Chutter, said: “It is going to be a sense of solidarity because it is [the Government’s] budget day on Wednesday – hence why we are striking.

“It is going to be a great demonstration and our message to the Government is: ‘enough is enough’ – we must be treated with respect.

“This is not about teachers being greedy – it is about our pay not rising with inflation. We need to get a serious pay offer on the table for this to be resolved.”

Education minister Gillian Keegan had said the Government made a ‘serious offer’ to the NEU to pause the planned strike action, adding that minsters ‘stand ready to talk’ to union bosses.