Meanwhile, the BMA said it was open to getting talks started.
Advertisement
“This is a wholly unnecessary dispute”.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of public sector union, Unison, said: “An NHS where the same high quality care is provided, regardless of the time of day or the day of the week, will notcome cheap”.
A spokesman for the BMA said the figure of nearly 40% working was unsurprising.
“Given the potential impact of the strike action on our hospital services we would encourage people to think about whether they need to visit the Emergency Department, which is there for people in serious or life threatening situations”. “That’s probably the reason the government thought they could bully us”.
“Strikes are a last resort but the doctors feel they have had little option to do so”.
Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn voiced support for the junior doctors, saying in a statement: “Their treatment by this government has been nothing short of appalling”.
However, there are plans to cut the number of hours on a weekend for which Junior Doctors can claim extra pay for unsocial hours.
NHS England reported that 10,000 of a possible 26,000 who were scheduled to work turned up today did, totalling 38 per cent, though this included the emergency staff who were planning on working today as it was. The reorganisation would result in “overworked doctors, exhausted doctors” which was bad news for patient care. “Elective procedures have been cancelled so really this is no different to Sunday, should you come into hospital on a Sunday”.
“First and foremost, we want to negotiate a contract that is fair for doctors, safe for patients and provides a future for the NHS”, it reads in a British Medical Association (BMA) pamphlet.
A 27-year-old woman – who wished to remain anonymous – who has been a junior doctor for three years said: “If they are not bringing in any more doctors than the service will be more thinly spread than it already us”.
“Unfortunately we had to cancel 20 operations and 171 outpatient appointments, and I apologise to all of the patients who were affected”.
The first strike was due to end at 8am on Wednesday.
This will be followed by further strikes.
The doctors are providing emergency cover only during the 24-hour walkout, which got under way at 8:00am this morning (Tuesday, January 12). More senior doctors known as consultants, other health care workers and even military doctors are expected to fill the void.
Advertisement
Junior doctors picketing at West Suffolk Hospital. “All of us doctors are standing together and fighting for one cause”.
