Junior doctors go on strike at Solihull’s hospitals

That’s according to the York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which operates Scarborough and Bridlington Hospitals.

Bucks Healthcare NHS Trust said it “has tried and tested plans to ensure that all urgent and emergency services at our hospitals continue to run as normal throughout the period of industrial action”.

The Government wants to cut the number of hours classed as unsociable, meaning these doctors will earn less money for evening and weekend work. Those who have not heard from us should assume their appointment or procedure is going ahead today as planned.

Services at hospitals in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are administered by local governments and were not affected by the action.

Patients are advised that if they have not heard from the hospital, they should attend their appointments.

Thousands of appointments and operations were postponed or cancelled, however junior doctors continued to provide emergency care throughout the day.

“We sincerely regret the disruption that industrial action will cause, but junior doctors have been left with no option”, BMA leader Dr Mark Porter said.

The action was supported by other members of staff, passers by and even patients, who stopped by the picket line.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday urged the doctors to abandon what he said was a “damaging” strike.

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 doctors are striking because they believe the new pay contract offered by the government could extend their “routine” (basic pay) working hours from 60 hours a week to 90, meaning that they would no longer be paid extra for working nights or weekends.

“We are here today not just to fight for our own rights but to fight for the patients to have a good service and a safe service”.

Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn voiced support for the junior doctors, saying in a statement: “Their treatment by this government has been nothing short of appalling”.

The doctors were due to provide only emergency care for 24 hours from 0800 GMT, followed by a similar 48-hour stoppage starting January 26.