Junior doctors across England today (Thursday) began the longest strike in the history of the National Health Service (NHS) in pursuit of a 35 per cent pay rise.
Health chiefs fear the unprecedented five-day walkout, which kicked off at 7 am on Thursday will cripple an already-fragile service.
Tens of thousands of ops and appointments are set to be cancelled as a result of the British Medical Association (BMA) strike, which comes as NHS waiting lists stand at a record high. A&E and cancer wards are also affected by the action.
According to DailyMail, talks with ministers have collapsed amid claims the union has refused to budge from its opening position.
NHS Providers has urged both doctors and the Government to resume discussions in a bid to avert more chaos for patients in England.
Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivendi, who chair the BMA's junior doctors committee, said 'we have to get back to talks' and said the five-day strike is 'not a record that needs to go into the history books'.
The pair added: “We can call this strike off today if the UK Government will simply follow the example of the government in Scotland and drop their nonsensical precondition of not talking whilst strikes are announced and produce an offer which is credible to the doctors they are speaking with.”
They said the pay offer to junior doctors 'throws into sharp relief the obstinate approach' being taken by the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary Steve Barclay.
“The Government has missed chance after chance to provide a credible offer and potentially bring to an end the industrial action by junior doctors in England.
“Whilst there are differences between junior doctors and governments in England and Scotland, the UK Government has far more financial freedom to give doctors what they deserve,” they said.
Junior doctors in Scotland called off strikes this week after a new pay deal was offered - a 17.5% increase over two years.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is due to meet with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to make a decision on approving a 6 per cent pay rise for public sector workers, but the BMA called on the Government to return to the negotiating table in a bid to resolve the long-running row.
More than 650,000 appointments and operations have been cancelled as a result of NHS industrial action since December, including strikes by junior doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and paramedics.
Consultants, who are also locked in their own pay row with the Government, are set to strike on July 20 and 21, although they will provide ‘Christmas Day cover’, meaning they will deliver urgent and emergency care only.
The combined action is expected to see the total number of cancellations soar past one million.