THERE was only minimal disruption at Hereford County Hospital when 74 junior doctors took up their new posts all on the same day.

Newly appointed medical director Dr Alison Budd said that every post had been filled and there had been a successful changeover.

Junior doctors have all completed five years medical training and are qualified.

Some are straight out of medical school and looking to take up their first positions in hospitals.

Others are taking the next stage, looking at different specialities, before deciding which way their career will go.

Every year, hospitals rotate the junior doctors they take in and the changeover previously took place at different dates in August and during February.

But the Department of Health decided that this year, the rotational changeover for junior doctors should take place at the same time in hospitals all over the country and set August 1 as the date.

There are some exemptions - for more experienced juniors - with doctors starting later this year.

In previous years, hospitals such as the county have played some part in deciding who should fill the posts but this time, it was done by the regional West Midlands Workforce Deanery.

At Hereford County Hospital, Dr Budd confirmed that some doctors did not know where they were going and hospitals did not know who was arriving until a few days before August 1.

But she said the hospital's human resources team had done a great job and all the new doctors had started work with minimal disruption to services.

The newcomers replace junior doctors who have done their stint in different departments at the hospital, including surgery and anaesthetics.