Junior doctors, who are protesting over the introduction of a new contract, walked out of routine and emergency care on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the strikes affecting A&E, maternity and intensive care for the first time.
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Junior doctors took to the picket lines at hospitals throughout England from 8am until 5pm.
Junior doctors, of whom there are around 55,000 in England, argue that they already work seven days a week and that the contract would risk patient safety by forcing them to work dangerously long hours.
There doesn’t seem to be any clear end point for the war between junior doctors and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt in their row over new contracts.
More than 125,000 appointments and operations have been cancelled and will need to be rearranged as a result of today’s strike.
Speaking on television this morning, Jeremy Hunt said: “You can disagree with me, you don’t have to like the health secretary, but this is not the way to express that frustration and anger”.
“There is a good contract on the table with a 13.5% increase in basic pay – 75 percent of doctors will be better off with this contract”, he said on ITV News, according to The Guardian.
“I feel like we have played our last card but we are always willing to go back to the table for negotiations”. Junior doctors in the United Kingdom can be newly qualified or have up to 10 years’ experience.
Johann Malawana, chairman of the British Medical Association’s committee for junior doctors, a group that represents their interests, said Tuesday was “an incredibly sad day for doctors, and the rest of society”.
It is the fifth time that strike action has taken place this year concerning the issue.
Hospitals said consultants and other senior doctors were on duty to provide services during the strike hours.
The NHS has created a special page for patients to help understand how to plan around the strikes as well as get local information on how the strike affects services near you.
Robert Courteney-Harris, chief executive of The University Hospital of North Midlands Trust, said: “Anyone who is scheduled to have an operation or an outpatient appointment should still attend unless they are contacted in advance”.
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However he said as Hunt had rejected the BMA’s offer to call off the strike if he lifted the imposition of the contract in August the escalation was “unavoidable”.
