‘The right thing to do is not to strike’ says Jeremy Hunt

A spokesperson for the hospital said that five day surgery appointments and 20 outpatient appointments had been cancelled as a result of the strike.

A Doncaster health boss has admitted appointments will have to be cancelled when junior doctors go on strike.

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.

As reported, junior doctors voted to strike earlier this month after concerns over a proposed pay review by Government were raised.

We are working with the NHS to ensure there are robust plans that protect the safety, welfare and service provided to patients.

Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, said three clinics, involving 33 patients, have been cancelled but added there was no plans to cancel operations.

The stoppage went ahead despite a last-minute plea from Prime Minister David Cameron, after talks between the BMA and the Government, through arbitration service ACAS failed to reach an agreement, after a planned strike was suspended previous year.

The Government denies this and claims that the contracts are the only way to increase NHS services across seven days a week and reduce death rates at the weekend.

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

“We have been clear throughout this process that we want to negotiate a contract that is safe and fair, and delivers for junior doctors, patients and the NHS as whole”.

They will offer only emergency care between 8am on Tuesday and 8am on Wednesday.

There are around 100 picket lines planned today, with junior doctors in Yorkshire expected to demonstrate outside hospitals in Hull, Harrogate, Keighley, Wakefield, Bradford, York, Sheffield and Leeds.

The dispute has led to an increasingly bitter war of words, with Hunt accusing some within the BMA of using strikes as a political opportunity to attack the Conservative government “that they hate”.

‘No-one wants to see patient care disrupted.

Then they walked out over similar reasons such as dissatisfaction over pay and many medics feeling they were undervalued and overworked.

“This strike is only a means to make our voices heard and to show how much resolve there is around the issue”.

Under the most recent proposals, doctors will receive an 11% rise in basic pay but extra pay for “unsocial” hours will be cut.

On February 10, there will be a full withdrawal of services from 8am to 5pm.