News Line spoke to two of the junior doctors on the picket line outside Cheltenham Royal Infirmary in Gloucestershire.
Dr Chad Harker, BMA rep, said: ‘Hopefully this action will lead to negotiations with the Health Secretary.
‘I imagine if negotiations don’t work it will be up to the leadership to decide the next step but I expect there would be more strikes.’
Tom Fisher, a junior doctor also on picket line outside Cheltenham Royal Infirmary, added: ‘The health service needs to be funded it’s more than just about pay, it’s about a properly funded health service.’
Tom also said he supported the other sections on strike.
‘We are looking for pay restoration, not a pay rise,’ junior doctor Sarah Hurst told News Line from the picket line at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital.
‘Compared to ten years ago’s pay it is the equivalent to working three months of the year for free, and it’s necessary to qualify – junior doctors can be very experienced, in fact, some of us have been here 17 years.’
On the picket line outside Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital in the south of the city, geriatric registrar Sara Page emphasised: ‘This is one of my most difficult weeks.
‘Everything is so hard for everybody – so many are struggling. It’s difficult to ask for more money, but I think I know I’m not worthless!
‘Today we know that our colleagues who are not out here but in the hospital are keeping the patients safe.
‘But we know that something long-term needs to be done for all our patients.’
On the picket line at St Thomas’ Hospital at Westminster Bridge yesterday morning, BMA Industrial Relations Officer, Daniel Pebody said: ‘The strike is going well and people are in good spirits. People were all geared up for this after the experience of the last strike. We are building on the strength of that.
‘We are getting huge support from the public while the government is facing huge opposition from the public.
‘There’s scandal after scandal in the government while the health service is criminally underfunded and understaffed. It shows what the government thinks about our public services. They don’t value them at all.’
Lois Davis a local resident who came with others to support the junior doctors said: ‘I think it’s outrageous the way the doctors and other NHS staff are being treated. All health workers should be properly paid because of the importance of the work they do.’
At St Mary’s Hospital Paddington, the pickets’ spokesman told News Line: ‘Junior doctors are leaving in their hundreds to go to Australia. This is for better pay and working conditions and this leaves gaps in the rotas.
‘We can’t provide the care we want to. It’s not sustainable. Of all my friends from university only two out of eight of us are in official training posts.
‘We don’t want to be on strike, we were forced to be on strike because the Tory government do not want to negotiate with us.’
Jack, a BMA member on the picket line at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, north west London, told News Line: ‘Our message is simple, doctors’ pay has been eroded over the past 15 years and we are seeking restoration. The quotes in the media say we’re asking a lot. It’s just how much we’ve lost.’
George, a BMA rep at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, told News Line: ‘Junior doctors (JDs) have lost 26% of their pay since 2008. JDs across the whole country have backed strike action to achieve pay restoration.
‘We are not asking for a pay rise, just restoration – against a background of a cost-of-living crisis and JDs graduating from university with over £95,000 tuition and maintenance fee debts.’
Chloe Rogers, from Woolwich Hospital, speaking to News Line from the picket line at King’s College Hospital, south east London, said: ‘I think the BMA staff have done a great job in accurately portraying what the aims of the strike today by doctors are, and the main media outlets have been relatively supportive in recent weeks.
‘But it is going to be tricky going forward to see how we can maintain that against quite a hostile government atmosphere.
‘It is really tough at the moment with the cost of living crisis, for ordinary people to see how strike action fits into their lives, but helping people to understand how our strike will improve their lives and the lives of their families in the long run, is crucial.
‘I think we have huge support from the working class. People driving past today are honking, and it’s amazing to see the support that is ongoing from the last strike, and it is good for our morale.
‘But myself and my friends found it difficult to see how we would fit in because we haven’t been on strike before and we had to overcome barriers to come out.
‘Last time when the teachers were out and the junior doctors were out we did get a lot of significant support from the teachers’ unions and from the RMT as well. Obviously support from all sectors is needed.’
Doctor Rosh said: ‘We have been struggling with the government decisions, obviously they were elected, not a choice that I would have made, but for me personally I think they have affected my life very negatively.
‘It is interesting to see how the government have been having a negative affect across many people’s lives.
‘Junior doctors aren’t the only people striking, so it is interesting to see across the workforce – public sector workers generally – teachers, nurses, ambulance workers, civil servants – everyone has been striking because of this Tory government’s attitude.
‘I think the more public sector workers collaborate and work together towards a common goal the better. I feel confident that if the public sectors work together they can find the right path forward.
‘The BMA should play their role as part of the public sector unions to have coordinated strike action.
‘A General Strike would have lots of implications on people’s lives and it’s open for discussion as to whether that is the way forward.
‘In my opinion, co-ordinated strike action all the way up to and including a General Strike may be necessary.’
Ellie, a mental health doctor at Maudsley Hospital, said: ‘This strike is about pay restoration for doctors, but all public sector workers need to work together to make sure that we are paid fairly for the jobs that we do.
‘Unfortunately, it has come to striking. Doctors never wanted things to get to this point, but if the government won’t negotiate or even come to the table to talk to the BMA, we are left in a difficult position.’
