On the streets outside Homerton hospital junior doctors and their supporters gathered to voice their opposition to new contracts which they say will adversely affect patient safety by removing crucial safeguards on long working hours and forcing them to make life and death decisions when exhausted.
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Pickets will be held at over 100 hospitals as nearly 4,000 operations and 17,500 outpatient appointments have been cancelled.
The picket line was outside the hospital between 8am and noon before they moved to Scarborough town for a “meet the doctor” event.
During today’s 24-hours strike, junior doctors will provide emergency care only.
Two further strikes are planned – the second of which would involve a refusal to take part in emergency care – but it is hoped talks could break the stalemate.
Dr Megan Parson, a junior doctor at the Royal Oldham, said: “We didn’t want it to come to this but we felt that we had no choice”.
The national debate centres over working hours and weekend pay, with doctors expressing their concern over the effect this will have on patients.
There were three weeks of talks up to Christmas and then one day of negotiations, which failed to reach an agreement.
More than 2,700 appointments went ahead as planned during the strike, the hospital added.
NHS England said 39% of junior doctors were in work during the strike. But government sources said they were still prepared to impose the contract if the deadlock could not be broken.
Andy Gibson, a newly qualified doctor, who was at Warwick Hospital today said: “It’s worth saying that we’ve not been on strike for 40 years, but this is such a big issue for us that we’ve had to take this action”.
On Monday, British Prime Minister David Cameron urged junior doctors to call off the strike, warning it would cause “some real difficulties for patients and potentially worse”.
The Department of Health insists that average working hours for junior doctors will remain the same, at around 48 hours a week and that they will receive an approximate 11% increase to their basic pay.
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In the striking doctors’ absence, Whipps Cross is being left with consultant and emergency cover similar to that given to patients on weekends.
