North Devon junior doctors go on strike

He told the BBC: “The right thing to do is to sit round the table and talk to the Government about how we improve patient safety and patient care, not these very unnecessary strikes”.

The doctors are planning a 48-hour stoppage later this month and a full withdrawal of labor, including emergency care, for nine hours on February 10. It is possible that waiting times may be longer for some patients as there may be delays experienced due to the impact of industrial action on other support services used by our A&E teams.

The Trust says emergency, urgent and inpatient care is working as normal and all main theatre lists planned for today are being completed as usual.

Strike action comes amid a dispute over the reform of junior doctor contracts.

Masood said support for the strike among the doctors was overwhelming.

The British Medical Association (BMA), the trade union and professional association for doctors and medical students in Britain, had tried to negotiate a new contract for junior doctors with the government, but failed to reach an agreement.

The letter from medical director, Dr Roger Stedman, said: “Sandwell General Hospital is now at escalation level four and is reporting an internal incident”.

The doctors are providing emergency cover only during the 24-hour walkout which runs until tomorrow at 8am. 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.

Around 40 junior doctors across Worcestershire Royal Hospital, the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch and Kidderminster Hospital, took part in the national walk out which finished at 8am on Wednesday morning.

NHS England have estimated around 10,000 junior doctors had reported for duty out of 26,000 scheduled to work during the day, causing thousands of routine operations to be cancelled, and many outpatient appointments to be rescheduled.

Doctors fear patient safety could be affected if the government’s new plans go ahead. “We have now asked ACAS to reconvene talks in the hops the BMA will return to sensible negotiations”.

More than 150 picket lines and “meet the doctor” events have been held nationally.

Dr Dagan Lonsdale, a junior doctor at St George’s hospital, said they had been forced into action by the Government’s threat to impose new contracts that would lead to “unsafe” staffing.