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British junior doctors strike over pay

British junior doctors have taken part in a second strike over pay and conditions halting nearly 3,000 operations.

Junior doctors in England have taken part in a second 24-hour strike over pay and conditions halting nearly 3,000 operations.

Check-ups, appointments and tests are also set to be disrupted as a result of the strike. It came after talks broke down in January between junior doctors and government over their demands.

During the strike, the junior doctors provide only emergency medical care. It's their second strike of the year — the work stoppage in January was the first such strike in 40 years.

Now there is mounting speculation ministers may soon seek to impose a new contract, potentially inflaming the row further.

One of the key sticking points is a disagreement over payment for weekend shifts and whether Saturday should be treated as a normal working day.

According to the state-funded BBC, talks have started taking place within the government after NHS bosses told ministers that if they wanted to see a new contract introduced, they would have to make their move this month to ensure it was in place by the summer. It raises the possibility of a series of rolling strikes as the dispute threatens to escalate even further.

National Incident Director for NHS England, Anne Rainsberry, said the national health service is doing everything possible to minimize the impact of the strike. She said it would delay care for "thousands of patients at a time of year when service pressures" are already at their highest.

 

“The government offer is unfair and the strikes are the only way left for the junior doctors to express their protest,” a London-based editor and commentator, Javier Farje told Press TV.

He also noted that the policies of the government are threatening the medical sector of the society as the doctors would leave the country for better future abroad. 

Junior doctors are physicians who are in training. They can have up to 10 years of experience.

 

 

 


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