Junior Doctors Stage Further Strike Action
It's in a long running dispute over contract changes.
Junior doctors in Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire have gone on strike - again.
It's the second walkout in less than a month in their continuing dispute with the government over changes to contracts.
Thousands walked out for 24 hours at 8 o'clock this morning with emergency care only being provided by them for the day.
Matthew Tuck is a junior doctor in Hull:
Matthew says he and many others are now thinking twice about staying in the profession. He went on to say:
"This year only 50% of doctors at my level have decided to carry on their training as a permanent post. The other half have either a mixture of temporary jobs because they are undecided or disillusioned with the current situation or are moving abroad. We cannot lose half of our graduating workforce each year because people are seeing conditions elsewhere and thinking well compared to here, why not?
"I never thought I would be partaking in industrial action, I don't think any doctor ever did. The last strike from doctors was a generation ago and I don't know any doctor that took part in that because it was so long ago but we cannot stand back and just let this happen.
"Mr Hunt wants to take a third of my salary away and increase it by 11%, now that just doesn't add up. It is a huge pay cut, particuarly for those working in A&E and acute medicine and some of the most intense hours working and it affects them the most and those are also the specialties that we have the most difficulty recruiting at the moment. This is all adding up to a tremendous mess."
Patients in our region are being told to attend appointments as normal unless told otherwise.
Mr Kevin Phillips, Chief Medical Officer at Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust says:
“We recognise the junior doctors’ right to take industrial action, so we will be implementing our business continuity plans in an attempt to minimise disruption for patients and ensure our services can continue to run safely.
“We will be providing extra support in those areas we expect to come under additional pressure, for example, there will be extra pharmacy support for our wards to help with prescribing issues and patient discharge arrangements.
“In a limited number of areas where it would not prove safe or possible to continue to see patients, regrettably there will be a small number of cancellations. All of those patients affected have now been contacted to advise them and make alternative arrangements."