English doctors strike for the first time in 40 years

A spokeswomen for the BMA said: “These figures refer to those junior doctors who were, as agreed, covering emergency care on Tuesday”.

Renewed efforts will begin to find a breakthrough in the deadlock over junior doctors’ contracts in the wake of their first 24-hour strike.

Meanwhile, the BMA said it was open to getting talks started.

“This is a wholly unnecessary dispute”.

“These plans are not safe for patients and they are not fair for us”.

According to hospital workers at the main entrance of the hospital, where the picket line had been positioned, the ten doctors who had formed the picket, packed up at 12.30pm, having been in position for just 4½ hours.

“The simple fact is that the government can not ignore the thousands who have made it quite clear what they think of their plans”.

Around 100 picket lines were put in place for the strike, with a large concentration in and around London.

The Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust added that they will return to work should a major incident be declared.

Dr Roger Stedman, the hospitals medical director said it “would be unsafe to deliver care for all our in-patients with a reduced workforce”.

“A reduction in anti-social working rates will be offset by an 11% increase in basic pay”.

“We will be contacting patients individually if their appointment or operation needs to be rescheduled”. “Elective procedures have been cancelled so really this is no different to Sunday, should you come into hospital on a Sunday”.

She said: “Obviously we remain disappointed that today’s strike has happened but we have received an overwhelming amount of support so far”.

He also says the new contract would see a doctor’s working week strictly limited to 72 hours – down from 91 hours now allowed.

“Working more than 80 hours per week, you are going to be extremely exhausted and you are going to make mistakes and not make the right decisions for the patients”.

The Government says the changes to the contract are needed to provide a 24/7 NHS.

However, the trust says the strike went smoothly due to it planning ahead and a Christmas Day style service was put into operation.

Sandwell Hospital released a statement this morning asking those on strike assigned to wards to come back in to work.

This will be followed by further strikes.

Junior doctors are being told by their union not to treat any patients at all, even those needing emergency A&E treatment, from 8am to 5pm on February 10 during what will be one of the busiest times of the week.

He disputed Hunt’s claim that the talks that have gone on since last month had produced agreement in 15 of 16 key areas, with only the hard issue of payment for working evenings, overnights and at weekends still unresolved.

“We have to do something about this – people get ill every day of the week”, Hunt told BBC radio. “All of us doctors are standing together and fighting for one cause”.