York Hospital trust junior doctors go on three-day strike

The 72-hour walkout is expected to lead to thousands of NHS appointments and operations being cancelled.

The strike is the third this year by junior doctors in England.

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The British Medical Association (BMA) is calling for “full restoration” of pay, which it says has seen a 26 per cent cut. The Government has offered five per cent.

York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals are down 49 per cent of all medical staff today.

Dr Hester Baverstock is among those striking today (Image: Stephen Lewis)

Among those on the picket line outside York Hospital is cardiology registrar Dr Hester Baverstock.

"Generally, the public support and understand our reasons for striking. The NHS is used by the majority of people in the country who have heard about how conditions are deteriorating," Dr Baverstock told The Press.

"They know about the lack of Government funding for the NHS and the lack of pay which has led to inadequate staffing levels.

"There are about 10 to 15 of us on the picket line today, which is smaller than the proportion of staff striking today."

Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, co-chairs of the BMA junior doctors committee, said in a statement: “Junior doctors are in despair at this Government’s refusal to listen.

“It should never have taken two whole rounds of strike action to even put a number on the table, and for that number to be a five per cent pay offer – in a year of double-digit inflation, itself another pay cut – beggars belief.

“Junior doctors in England have seen their pay cut in real terms by more than a quarter over the last 15 years.

“Today they are demonstrating what that means to the survival of the NHS.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “This 72-hour walkout will put patient safety and our efforts to cut waiting lists at risk.

“During recent meetings with representatives of the BMA committee, we made a fair and reasonable opening offer and were discussing both pay and non-pay issues until they chose to end the talks by announcing new strike dates.

“If the BMA cancels these damaging and disruptive strikes and shows willingness to move significantly from their position, we can resume confidential talks and find a way forward, as we have done with other unions.”

A BMA poll of 1,935 junior doctors in England, published last Wednesday, found 53 per cent are making plans to leave the NHS as a result of the Government’s response to industrial action.

Some 67 per cent do not think the NHS in its current form will exist in 10 years and 88 per cent expect the NHS to get worse over the next 18 months.