Strike On Doctors' Orders
Junior doctors have come out in force on strike today across Greater Manchester in a dispute with the government over a new contract.
Members of the British Medical Association (BMA) have walked out of all hospitals across the region are are staging pickets between 8am Tuesday and 8am Wednesday
The row centres around a proposed new contract of employment which will cut the number of hours classed as unsociable, which the union claims will mean less pay for evening and weekend work.
During the industrial action junior doctors are only offering emergency care resulting in hundreds of appointments and operations being cancelled or postponed.
Junior doctor Mary Gee, who is 18 months into her training, spoke to Key103 about why she is on strike: "I am here today because I think that this contract is fundamentally incredibly unsafe for patients.
"The government have shown that they are quite happy to remove any safeguards against the length of hours junior doctors work and this, I can see, will lead rapidly to people working very long hours and tired doctors make mistakes.
"I am concerned for patient welfare."
Liz Holland, a Unite the Union representative, told Key103 why she joined the picket at the Manchester Royal Infirmary: "I believe that the changes they are trying to make to the contract would be disastrous for patient care and it is completely unfair.
"If they do this they will be coming after the rest of the NHS staff next so it is really important that we head this off as soon as we can."
Liz called on the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, to listen to the NHS staff: "They know what it is like to work on the frontline.
"It is completely unacceptable to expect people to work longer and unsociable hours.
"People miss time with their families and need to be given extra money for missing out on that."
Annette Wright, President of Manchester Trades Council, was also out in support.
She praised the strike: "This is setting an example to people of not accepting anything that is thrown at you and standing up for yourself.
"It is an inspiration to all of us."
There are two more strikes planned for later this month if the government and the BMA fail to come to an agreement.
By Emily Murray