Striking junior doctors want talks over pay

Junior doctors at Northampton General Hospital join others across England in a four-day walkout

Junior doctors at the beginning of a four-day walkout said they hoped it would prompt talks between their union and the health secretary.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has asked for a 35% pay rise, but Steve Barclay said this was "unreasonable".

Striking doctor Katy McDowall, a specialist registrar in maternity at Northampton General Hospital, said pay rates meant the NHS found it "really difficult retain staff".

Northampton General Hospital (NGH) said there would be "some disruption" and it would prioritise urgent care.

'Always a struggle'

Striking doctor Katy McDowall said without a pay rise there would not be enough doctors in the NHS

Speaking on the picket line at NGH, Dr McDowall said: "The consequences of the lack of decent pay rise is the reason I’ve gone on strike, because we just find it really difficult to retain staff.

"If we find it difficult to retain staff, we find it difficult to put out a safe rota of junior doctors and it’s patient safety that is at the core of this."

She said within her department it was "always a struggle to fill the rota".

Dr McDowall told BBC Radio Northampton: "People are leaving all the time because they feel they have a better deal elsewhere.

"Their experience as a junior doctor for the first couple of years is very stressful, pay is low, they've got a huge debt, so it’s no wonder they are leaving."

She said Mr Barclay and the BMA should "at least talk" in an effort to resolve the dispute.

'Pushed into this corner'

Clinician Nicola Pugh said junior doctors were moving abroad to get better rates of pay

Nicola Pugh, a senior clinical fellow in Accident and Emergency at NGH, said it was not "easy for anyone who works in health care to make the decision to go for industrial action".

But she said: "I feel pushed into this corner because of years of erosion of pay and working conditions that is resulting in a mass exodus of some of my colleagues who are finding themselves going elsewhere for a better work life balance or better pay."

Dr Pugh she was "very sorry" if patients had procedures disrupted but added: "We are seeing operations being cancelled all the time because of staff shortages."

She said she hoped the health secretary and the BMA would "start talking" about pay and conditions.

'Longest strike in history'

Northampton General Hospital warned there would be disruption from the strikes

Hemant Nemade, medical director at NGH, said the hospital had "taken steps to try to plug the gaps".

He said those who needed "urgent medical care [should] come forward as normal" and patients whose operations had been cancelled had been contacted.

"This is the longest strike in history, so there will be some disruption, but we have prepared as much as we can and we have learnt from the previous strike period," he said.

The health secretary said it was "extremely disappointing" patients were at risk.

Mr Barclay accused organisers of timing the strike just after the Bank Holiday Easter weekend - a period when the NHS already faced increased demand and greater staff absence - "to maximise disruption".

He said he had hoped to begin formal pay negotiations with the BMA last month but said its demand for a 35% pay rise would result in some junior doctors "receiving a pay rise of over £20,000".