Talks aimed at avoiding further NHS strikes in England are due to resume later, amid warnings the government could impose its controversial new contract on junior doctors.
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Recent struggles during winter have also led to concerns as to whether the NHS has been adequately funded to maintain high standards.
Junior doctors range from professionals straight out of medical school to anyone with up to a decade of work under their belt.
They are also concerned about the potential removal of contractual safeguards which now protect them from working excessive hours and believe this will impact on patients.
The key sticking point is the changes to weekend working, which would see junior doctors lose their extra pay for “unsocial hours” on Saturdays.
“The BMA’s local representatives have worked with us to ensure that all junior doctors working in our hospitals are clear about what services are affected by the industrial action that they are proposing to take on 12 January 2016 as part of a national dispute”.
It came after talks between the British Medical Association and NHS Employers broke down after the groups failed to reach an agreement on new contracts.
Johann Malawana, chair of the BMA junior doctors committee, said: “Junior doctors feel they have been left with no option but to take this action”.
NHS England said 39% of junior doctors out of a possible 26,000 had reported for work (including urgent and emergency care doctors). “With the strike over, we have a cautious optimism that we can make some progress”, an official close to the talks said.
“We are doing everything we can to mitigate its effects but you can’t have a strike on this scale in our NHS without there being some real difficulties for patients and potentially worse”.
The doctors are planning a 48-hour stoppage later this month and a full withdrawal of labour, including emergency care, for nine hours on February 10.
Thousands of junior doctors will go on strike today despite last-ditch efforts by David Cameron to get them to abandon their “damaging” course of action.
The doctors – medical-school graduates training to be consultants or family practitioners – are providing emergency care for only the 24 hours that started at 8am London time.
JUNIOR doctors at Fairfield General Hospital were among thousands across the country who joined a strike over a new contract on Tuesday.
The 24 hours industrial action, in opposition to a change in working conditions and pay, began at 8am today (Tuesday) and runs until 8am tomorrow morning (Wednesday).
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“We are here today not just to fight for our own rights but to fight for the patients to have a good service and a safe service”.
