This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/society/live/2016/mar/09/junior-doctors-strike-for-third-time-over-new-contract-live-updates

The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
Junior doctors strike for third time over new contract - live updates Junior doctors strike for third time over new contract - live updates
(35 minutes later)
11.03am GMT
11:03
Kailash Chand, deputy chair of the BMA, has written for the Guardian’s Healthcare network, accusing Jeremy Hunt of “misusing statistics as a way to impose the new junior doctor contract”. The health secretary, he says, would be in front of a fitness to practise tribunal if he were a medic.
Chand writes:
Hunt has managed to insult and alienate NHS staff across the board. To lose a large swath of junior doctors in the early stages of their careers would be a disaster for the NHS. And the number of GPs and consultants who are considering retiring early is staggeringly high and a huge worry for the NHS and patient care. The health service could be left with a shortage of clinicians, with the remaining doctors spread too thinly. We will have fewer staff in an even less safe NHS.
10.55am GMT
10:55
Aisha Gani
Junior doctors in East London are in high spirits but adamant they must win against the health secretary Jeremy Hunt on the contracts issue. They pounded the pavement in Whitechapel handing out leaflets to passersby.
Jackie Applebee is a GP and has been active in support of the junior doctors strike. She said:
I think it’s really important they win this dispute. It’s outrageous the government is implying it’s a pay rise when the number of unsocial hours is going up.
Jackie a GP fears clocks are turning back. As a junior doctor in late 80s she worked 100hr weeks, which was unsafe pic.twitter.com/prVow193te
Applebee said Saturdays will be treated like a Wednesday and added the problem was that “the safety mechanisms are going to be relaxed”.
“There is a workforce shortage and so more rotated and more tired,” she said.
She said she was fearful the clocks would be turned back for junior doctors to how it was for her when she was a junior doctor in the late 1980s.
It was usual to do Monday to Friday and often doctors spent every third night on call. If you were on call on the weekend you would be covering from a normal day on Friday until the end of a normal day on Monday.
There was very little sleep while on obstetrics - there could be a beep anytime.
Applebee said she often did a 100 hour week and feared current doctors will face the same.
I remember how tired I would be and we risk going back to that.
There’s a workforce crisis and doctors are going to Australia and GPs are retiring and people aren’t going into this field.
Who will look after us? The public need to understand this. The message to the public is the government is doing this to junior doctors and if they win they will do he same to nurses and GPs, going towards a system like (the United States of) America while America is moving away from the system.
We are throwing the baby out with the bathwater and we’ll end up with a two tiered NHS.
Standing in the rain in his scrubs, Edward, who has been a paediatrician for eleven years, said it would soon be time to escalate action. “We have to win” he said.
Edward has been a junior doctor for 11 years and is a paediatrician. He said it was time to escalate action pic.twitter.com/aChSARteoH
10.46am GMT
10:46
Dr Ros Kings, on the picket line outside Chelsea and Westminster, told Philip Mansell that Jeremy Hunt should negotiate further with the BMA.
She said:
Junior doctors are vulnerable because of our yearly contract. If this contract is imposed it could be used as a lever and it could have a knock on affect on other roles in the NHS. There’s no opposition to a seven-day NHS if it’s thought through and staffed properly.
Dr Ros Kings feels that an imposed contract could be used as a "lever" #JuniorDoctorsStrike @Haroon_Siddique pic.twitter.com/OaWfmmSyTr
10.42am GMT
10:42
Striking junior doctors in Bishop’s Stortford are running free CPR training sessions for the public today and tomorrow.
Junior doctor Zohra Qureshi told the Herts and Essex Observer:
We feel we still want to do something worthwhile even though we are not at our jobs.
We are not striking because we want a free day off, we are not being paid. We want to do something to raise the issue and to give something back to the community.
10.38am GMT
10:38
Here’s a video of junior doctors in east London.
10.37am GMT
10:37
A “blue light” candle lit vigil will be held outside Downing Street this evening from 8.30pm “to remind the government and public that the NHS is already 24/7”.
It has been organised by by Dr Julia Prague, a medical registrar in London who qualified eight years ago, to coincide with the strike. She said:
I organised this themed vigil because the NHS is already 24/7, providing high quality care at the point of entry, and despite this the NHS is being left out in the cold by the government: underfunded and undervalued in the face of political point scoring and game playing, which is demoralising doctors and other front line staff. Imposition of an unsafe and unfair contract will only make matters worse.”
Staff and patients will stand together, united at dark, from 8.30pm to 10.45pm, holding blue candle lights while the National Health Singers choir sings Yours, an anthem calling for protection of the NHS.
10.28am GMT10.28am GMT
10:2810:28
The strike in England – and the prospect of junior doctors leaving the UK for jobs abroad because of concerns over the new contract – may be an opportunity for health boards in Wales.The strike in England – and the prospect of junior doctors leaving the UK for jobs abroad because of concerns over the new contract – may be an opportunity for health boards in Wales.
Doctors at the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board – which covers Swansea, Port Talbot, Neath, Bridgend – have contributed to a video inviting professionals to re-locate to south Wales rather than New South Wales, in Australia.Doctors at the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board – which covers Swansea, Port Talbot, Neath, Bridgend – have contributed to a video inviting professionals to re-locate to south Wales rather than New South Wales, in Australia.
They don’t focus on the strike but extol the virtues of the region: the lovely beaches, countryside, affordability and the job and training opportunities.They don’t focus on the strike but extol the virtues of the region: the lovely beaches, countryside, affordability and the job and training opportunities.
Here’s the video:Here’s the video:
So far it has been viewed 70,000 times since being launched on Friday.So far it has been viewed 70,000 times since being launched on Friday.
The Labour-controlled Welsh government is, of course, more nakedly political. It has been keen to point out that there is no strike in Wales. At the end of last year it launched a recruitment drive pointedly aimed at disillusioned English trainees.The Labour-controlled Welsh government is, of course, more nakedly political. It has been keen to point out that there is no strike in Wales. At the end of last year it launched a recruitment drive pointedly aimed at disillusioned English trainees.
10.05am GMT10.05am GMT
10:0510:05
Mark OliverMark Oliver
There were around 20 doctors at picket lines on different sides of the road outside King’s College hospital in Camberwell, south London, this morning.There were around 20 doctors at picket lines on different sides of the road outside King’s College hospital in Camberwell, south London, this morning.
They were listening to Sweet Alabama to keep up spirits.They were listening to Sweet Alabama to keep up spirits.
In the walk-in blood test department it took just two minutes to see a nurse. “It seems less busy today at the moment,” one of the nurses said, adding “you did well” as they put a little bandage on my arm.In the walk-in blood test department it took just two minutes to see a nurse. “It seems less busy today at the moment,” one of the nurses said, adding “you did well” as they put a little bandage on my arm.
9.52am GMT9.52am GMT
09:5209:52
It’s a dog’s life being a junior doctor.It’s a dog’s life being a junior doctor.
Buster supports #JuniorDoctorsStrike @Bath_Doctors and he'd like @Jeremy_Hunt to listen before he gets any wetter pic.twitter.com/fOxjymD363Buster supports #JuniorDoctorsStrike @Bath_Doctors and he'd like @Jeremy_Hunt to listen before he gets any wetter pic.twitter.com/fOxjymD363
9.49am GMT9.49am GMT
09:4909:49
This tweet is from the chair of the BMA junior doctors committee.This tweet is from the chair of the BMA junior doctors committee.
UCH this morning in the wet weather. Lots of support from public and staff pic.twitter.com/M9Aif1KcaQUCH this morning in the wet weather. Lots of support from public and staff pic.twitter.com/M9Aif1KcaQ
9.47am GMT9.47am GMT
09:4709:47
This is a succinct summary of why the junior doctors are striking:This is a succinct summary of why the junior doctors are striking:
Quick reminder as to why we are striking (via BMA) pic.twitter.com/NKBeomPT9lQuick reminder as to why we are striking (via BMA) pic.twitter.com/NKBeomPT9l
9.44am GMT9.44am GMT
09:4409:44
It’s no surprise to find veteran Labour MP Dennis Skinner, one of the hardest working politicians, on the picket line.It’s no surprise to find veteran Labour MP Dennis Skinner, one of the hardest working politicians, on the picket line.
84 and on the doctors' picket line. Got to love Dennis Skinner for his commitment pic.twitter.com/ucX7VellIX84 and on the doctors' picket line. Got to love Dennis Skinner for his commitment pic.twitter.com/ucX7VellIX
9.41am GMT
09:41
Philip Mansell, outside Chelsea and Westminster hospital for the Guardian, writes:
There’s been plenty of support from passersby and those filtering in and out of the hospital. One of the picketers, Dr Ieuan Reece, believes that there will be an outflux of staff from the NHS if the contracts are imposed, and already has medic friends who have applied to work in Australia.
Plenty of support for junior doctors picketing at Chelsea and Westminster hospital this morning @Haroon_Siddique pic.twitter.com/K9I2aiNEn3
There is support elsewhere for the junior doctors, whether it be from motorists, trade unions or others in the medical profession.
Traffic noise being drowned out by the supportive toots on Leicester inner ring road #notsafenotfair pic.twitter.com/dpjImFWPHx
Standing in #Solidarity with #JuniorDoctors in Manchester #JuniorDoctorsStrike pic.twitter.com/zAbK88NXJn
Supporting #JuniorDoctorsStrike at Russells Hall Hospital. Please show your support. pic.twitter.com/UIrOAbzIeQ
Thank you @rcpsych president Prof Sir @WesselyS for paying a visit to the @MaudsleyNHS #JuniorDoctorsStrike @TheBMA pic.twitter.com/woInRuoICF
9.29am GMT
09:29
Aisha Gani
On this drizzly and grey March morning, a dozen doctors stood on the picket line at the London Royal Hospital, Whitechapel, in the East End. They wore orange hi-vis jackets and held aloft umbrellas as well-wishers passed around home-baked brownies.
About 15 doctors of different specialism on the picket line in the rain. Early days still, they say pic.twitter.com/BJBQGtzPW2
Arjun Devanesan has been a junior doctor for five years, specialising in anaesthetics. He told the Guardian:
I’m here because i think that we’re sort of behind the times a little bit and the government had been sneaking up on us since 2012 social care act.
It’s not just about junior doctors but also saving NHS from imploding and becoming economically and socially unviable so that the only solution becomes privatisation. So it’s about stopping this.
Arjun Devanesan in anaesthetics said government has been "sneaking" up on them since 2012 health & social care act pic.twitter.com/Xlf6ADQP1A
Devanesan said that later this afternoon striking doctors from east London hospitals will be gathering at St Paul’s en masse to protest.
He added:
The thing with anaesthetics, is it gives departments cover for so many things and i already see gaps in the rotas filled as people aren’t applying for jobs and becoming even more stretched and becoming difficult to match the demand.
Applying for jobs becomes unattractive so a lot of people are going abroad, taking time out and changing industry.
I don’t think people really realise surgical lists overrun or are cancelled. It is because physically unsafe when understaffed.
Founded in the 18th century, the hospital, also a large teaching hospital, houses one of London’s busiest paediatric accident and emergency departments.
Also on the picket line was Raoul Li-Everington who has been a junior doctor for seven months and was born at the hospital. He works in Scotland but wanted to show solidarity to NHS colleagues here.
Raoul Li-Everington, working as a junior doctor for seven months, said a demoralised workforce not best start pic.twitter.com/xmIIRZdlII
He said:
I want to specialise in general practice but there’s already a shortage, and then they [patients] go to A&E and struggle a lot. Patients are not seen for hours and it’s a failure for the community and is a fundamental strain.
“I know this has been an issue for a long time but it needs to be sorted out,” he added.
“One of my patients has been in hospital for four months” he said, explaining the social services were not in place to take care of out patients.
Despite the challenges as soon as he entered the workforce, Li-Everington said:
I couldn’t picture myself doing anything else. I don’t think any doctor goes into it for the money.
The hours are brutal and I don’t have social life but wake up every morning and think ‘Would I rather be behind a desk all day or have real human interaction and work with the smartest people from different specialisms?’ and that’s what drives me. And I don’t want the NHS to implode.
“A demoralising workplace is not best way to start,” he added
Updated
at 10.20am GMT
9.19am GMT
09:19
This is one of the best placards/series of placards I’ve seen so far today:
Tired doctors make missteaks.#JuniorDoctorsStrike #junioraction @TheBMA pic.twitter.com/RZqcEHIJ9m
9.16am GMT
09:16
Here is NHS England’s advice for patients during the industrial action, although most of it applies everyday.
#NHS industrial action #Healthcare news update #GP #NHS111 pic.twitter.com/SnAC8mbSnW
9.13am GMT
09:13
The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell visited a picket line in west London this morning.
Visited the #juniordoctors on picket line this morning outside Hillingdon Hospital to show 100% support from me pic.twitter.com/GbxSbDWKtd
9.08am GMT
09:08
Phillip Mansell is outside Chelsea and Westminster hospital for the Guardian.
Eoin Dinneen, senior house officer there, told him that it is “insulting” to be told Saturdays are normal working hours.
Eoin Dinneen explains why he's joined the picket outside Chelsea and Westminster hospital today. @Haroon_Siddique pic.twitter.com/q5OdlRVY1O
9.03am GMT
09:03
Two sisters, one a junior doctor and the other an NHS management trainee, have written about the impact the new contract will have on each other’s life for the Guardian’s Healthcare Network.
Anna Babic, the sister who is a management trainee writes:
The contract is questionable in terms of workers’ rights. Fragmented shift patterns are already having a huge impact on the health of NHS staff and their families. We already have the challenge of an often overtired, under supported workforce; we should be finding ways to deal with this and reduce sickness rates, decrease reliance on agency staff, and generally make working conditions better, not worse. A tired workforce results in unsafe care and no time to do anything beyond immediate patient survival. Medicine isn’t just about survival, it is far more holistic.
9.00am GMT
09:00
A Mexican wave from strikers in Newcastle.
Rainy #JuniorDoctorsStrike day in #Newcastle - here is a cheery Mexican wave @guardian @krishgm @TheLastLeg pic.twitter.com/6KZsPpJ39z
8.42am GMT
08:42
The Green party is backing the striking junior doctors. The party’s health spokesman, Larry Sanders, who is the brother of US presidential hopeful Bernie, said:
The hypocrisy of Jeremy Hunt announcing that he was imposing a contract on junior doctors exactly one year after he ‘called time on NHS bullying’ is astounding. Those junior doctors are essential to a functioning NHS and they will go on to become leaders of the service. They need to be treated with the respect that they deserve.
It is clear to all that Jeremy Hunt’s agenda is to destroy the NHS and to pass it into private hands supported by an insurance scheme. He has gone on record with these views and he is therefore not a fit person to be in charge of the NHS.
It is time for Mr Hunt to go before for he completely destroys the NHS and the good will that it runs on.
The junior doctors are fighting for the right to be able to care for us.
Supporting #JuniorDoctorsStrike we stand together to protect our #nhs @TheGreenParty pic.twitter.com/EHe07llMYf
8.39am GMT
08:39
Lots more pictures are starting to come in from - in some cases very wet - picket lines.
Determined #juniordoctors on the picket line in #Cheltenham this morning #JuniorDoctorsStrike #notsafenotfair pic.twitter.com/FtOVg7o5cn
Kicking it off at St Barts! #JuniorDoctorsStrike pic.twitter.com/3srEdox5AL
Today @MaudsleyNHS #juniordoctors begin 48 hours emergency care-only industrial action #JuniorDoctorsStrike. pic.twitter.com/bDsNmcRHQ0