Junior doctors start 6 day walk out over pay
We've spoken to doctors on the picket line outside St Thomas' Hospital in central London
A junior doctor on strike at a picket line in London has said "there won't be any doctors left" if the Government does not improve pay.
Dr Hamish Bain, 30, said that doctors' pay had been "eroded in real terms" and that the strike represented "an escalation".
Speaking from a picket line outside St Thomas' Hospital in central London, the medical registrar said that patient safety would be maintained by consultants covering those on strike.
He said that improving pay was vital to bringing junior doctors "back from abroad", adding that many of his colleagues had moved to Australia and the US.
Dozens of junior doctors gathered outside St Thomas' on Wednesday morning. One carried a homemade sign that read: "Doctors are for life, not just for Covid - restore our pay".
Another we spoke to - Dr Daniel Zahedi - told us "we've seen a country that called us heroes during the pandemic and now call us villans for us asking for us to be taken care of as well in society, and we're just down here asking for fair pay and recognition."
A medical student at the same picket line told the PA News agency that new graduates are "striking with their feet already" over the issue of NHS pay.
Shivani Ganesh, 23, said that increasing pay was "really important" to improving staff retention in the health service.
"We're not going to have these new graduates trained up and working in the NHS because we're striking with our feet already.
"So it's really important to increase pay so that we have an NHS workforce for our future patients."
Ms Ganesh said that recruiters from Australia were "advertising near picket lines", adding "other countries understand that doctors aren't being paid adequately and they're offering much better packages".
Many of those on the picket line on Wednesday morning outside the hospital, which is located across the River Thames from the Houses of Parliament, carried signs that said "ÂŁ15 an hour is not a fair wage for a junior doctor". Another carried a homemade sign which said "reduced pay keeps the doctor away".
Labour is urging ministers to get back round the negotiatig table.
The government says the BMA's demand for a 35% pay rise is "unacceptable". The H
The Health Secretary Victoria Atkins has also criticised the timing of the strike, saying "January is typically the busiest time of the year for the NHS and these strikes will have a serious impact on patients across the country.
"I urge the BMA Junior Doctors Committee to call off their strikes and come back to the negotiating table so we can find a fair and reasonable solution to end the strikes once and for all."