The Government announced yesterday that almost 3,000 operations have been cancelled as a result of the junior doctor strike.
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Emergency care has been provided.
During the strike, which began at 08:00 GMT on Wednesday, junior doctors are only providing emergency care.
Junior doctors argue this would leave them out of pocket and make working hours unsafe.
The compromise, apparently backed by the BMA, Department of Health, and NHS employers, was blocked by Jeremy Hunt, however.
Doctors are furious at Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s proposed changes to their contracts, due to come into effect in August. “And my job is to do something about that”, Mr Hunt told the BBC.
“It is a timely reminder to us all that while the future of the health service remains unclear, what is abundantly clear is just how important it remains to our national identity and sense of Britishness”. “If striking is the only remaining option that we have, then that’s what we have to do”.
How close did both sides get to a deal?
“We have certainly gone the extra mile on trying to get a deal on this and it’s very disappointing that there’s a further strike today and several thousand patients have been affected by that”.
Aislin Macklin-Doherty, 32, from Lymington Road, Hampstead, is an oncologist at Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton.
A spokesman for Homerton Hospital said: “Our priority will be to ensure that there is minimal impact on emergency care and our urgent care services in particular, and our plans include suitable clinical cover for emergency rotas to ensure that we continue to provide high quality care which is safe for our patients”.
“So the turnout for the strike has been slightly lower than before”, he said. “I can’t afford a vehicle”, she said.
“Doctors know what the conditions of these contracts will mean”.
“We’re all here to protect the NHS as a service”.
Analysis: Why should we care? We’re very concerned about the NHS being put at risk.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt clearly does not understand the day-to-day staffing pressures that already exist at hospitals while the British Medical Association’s insistence that Saturday is not a normal working day is unreasonable and unrealistic.
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The findings come as medics walk out for 24 hours over a new contract that would redefine weekend and evening working to not count as anti-social hours. I would have to move further out of London, or out of London altogether, if this contract were to go through.
