Junior doctors hold 24-hour strike

Junior doctors at state-run National Health Service hospitals in the United Kingdom began a strike on Tuesday over government plans to impose a new contract changing how they are paid and reducing compensation for evening and weekend work.

He said. “There are some serious issues about patient safety and recognition of junior doctors’ contributions that need to be sorted here and the very fact that Government documents refuse to acknowledge those issues is one of the things that makes the dispute more hard to resolve”.

Despite last-ditch attempts to prevent the strike, negotiations fell through.

The junior doctors in the United Kingdom have concluded their first industrial action that went on for 24 hours amid signs that an agreement might be reached soon. The public has been warned not to attend Accident and Emergency (A&E) unless completely necessary.

Take a look at how hospitals and patients have been preparing for the strike here…

“We’re so disappointed to be striking today”. We are offering all of the patients affected an alternative date as soon as possible.

He continued: “We just need everybody to get back around the table and resolve this”.

The trust running the QEII Hospital in Welwyn Garden City and Stevenage’s Lister is treating today as a bank holiday, because the British Medical Association (BMA) has called a 24-hour strike, starting at 8am. But the action has also been supported by other unions including Unite, Unison and the RMT.

Meanwhile Alison McCorry, a second year GP trainee added: “We’ve had great support, there’s more than 20 people here”.

Junior doctors have been picketing outside North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple today (Tuesday).

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn backed the strikes. The BMA fears that proposals to change the maximum number of working hours per week will put patients at risk in the hands of over-worked, exhausted doctors. The BMA has tried to negotiate with the Government but we feel that this is the only way to get them to listen seriously to our concerns.

“Meet the Doctors” events are also being held outside Walthamstow Central and Leytonstone tube stations throughout the day, where the public can ask doctors any questions they have about the strike.

It has been 40 years since junior doctors last went on strike.

Junior doctors will strike again, for 48 hours, on the 26th of January and again on the 10th of February, when medics-this time including emergency staff-will walk out between 8am and 5pm.