Junior doctors picketed outside James Cook Hospital for the second and last day of strike action.
Advertisement
Junior doctors walked off the job at 8am on Tuesday and returned at 5pm in the evening; they have done the same on Wednesday.
Dr Johann Malawana, the chairman of the junior doctors committee which has held negotiations over the new contract said: “Today is an incredibly sad day for doctors, and the rest of society”.
“Ultimately the junior doctors out here today and across the country are the consultants of the future and it’s important we don’t lose these highly trained professionals at this stage of their careers because they represent the future of the NHS”.
Figures complied by NHS England suggest 78% of junior doctors (21,608) who were expected to be working on Tuesday did not report for duty.
The doctors have also warned that the new contract creates unsafe shift patterns as the existing number of doctors within the NHS will have to work extra and longer shifts, which would ultimately risk patient safety.
During the walkouts, junior doctors will refuse to work in emergency care, including A and E, maternity services, emergency surgery and intensive care.
The strikes were held over disputes on working conditions and pay in new contracts.
There is a wide public support for the strikers, with passers-by stopping to shake hands with picketing doctors and wishing them luck.
‘We have been outside the Department of Health, outside Jeremy Hunt’s offices prepared to speak to him.
It is the fifth time that strike action has taken place this year concerning the issue.
More than 125,000 appointments and operations have been called off and have to be rearranged due to the strikes.
Patients whose appointments were affected by the strike were contacted, and around 10 per cent of appointments were cancelled as a result, across all three hospitals run by the trust on the two days of industrial action.
Hospital sources said the reallocation of consultants was likely to cause delays in discharging patients previously admitted to wards.
Downing Street’s official spokeswoman said the Prime Minister was being updated throughout the day and “we have done all we could to avoid these strikes”.
Advertisement
Jeremy Hunt claims the NHS is “busting a gut” to ensure patients are safe.
