Junior doctors mount picket lines as five-day strike begins

Junior doctors have launched a five-day strike in what is being described as the longest walkout of its kind in the NHS’s history amid ongoing protests over pay in the health service. Members of the British Medical Association (BMA) in England mounted picket lines outside hospitals from 7am at the start of the walkout, which will cause huge disruption, affecting operations and consultations. Strikes are affecting Salisbury District Hospital, with the foundation trust saying, "Please be aware that our hospital will be very busy over the next few days during the junior doctors strike from 7 am tomorrow, Thursday 13th July, to 7 am on Tuesday, 18th July. "Our hospital will be operating a Bank Holiday-level service. The focus of the hospital during the days of strike action is to maintain safe and compassionate patient care. Our Accident & Emergency Department will be fully functional, as will our Maternity Unit, and we will have safe staffing levels for all inpatients. We’re working to ensure our wards are safely staffed and that critical services are maintained. "Please consider alternatives if you do not have a life-threatening or critical illness or injury. "Get the right healthcare treatment at the right time. For minor injuries and illnesses, contact your GP, local pharmacy or Salisbury Walk-In Centre. If you're not sure, contact NHS111 online or by phone." The strikes are being held amid speculation the Government will say if it is going to accept recommendations from pay review bodies affecting public sector workers including teachers, civil servants and NHS workers. There is speculation that the bodies have recommended rises of between 6% and 6.5%. There will be renewed anger from unions if the Government rejects the recommendations or says money must be found from existing budgets. BMA leaders urged the Government to return to the negotiating table in a bid to resolve the long-running row, which has already led to a series of strikes and thousands of cancelled operations and consultations. BMA leaders Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said: “Today marks the start of the longest single walkout by doctors in the NHS’s history, but this is still not a record that needs to go into the history books. “We can call this strike off today if the UK Government will simply follow the example of the government in Scotland and drop their nonsensical precondition of not talking whilst strikes are announced and produce an offer which is credible to the doctors they are speaking with. “The pay offer on the table to junior doctors in Scotland and how it was reached throws into sharp relief the obstinate approach being taken by the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary, Steve Barclay."