Summary

  • Junior doctors in England are taking part in a 24-hour strike on Tuesday 12 January 2016 in dispute with government

  • Emergency cover only being provided after 08:00 GMT

  • There are 55,000 junior doctors - about a third of the workforce

  • Three strikes are planned - the last in February will see doctors refuse to provide emergency care

Live Reporting

Mario Cacciottolo and Michelle Roberts

  1. Noel Edmonds joins picket lines

    TV personality Noel Edmonds has tweeted his support for the junior doctors, some of whom he joined on a picket line in Bath.

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  3. Ben Goldacre shows 'solidarity' with doctors

    Well-known doctor, author and broadcaster Ben Goldacre has tweeted a picture of himself alongside junior doctors on strike in London.

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  4. Insight into A&E junior doctor's duties

    Newsbeat article

    Newsbeat has written about a shift in the life of a junior doctor in an A&E department, following around 28-year-old Katie Flower who works in Devon.

  5. Further junior doctors strikes 'not in their interest'

    Danny Mortimer, the chief executive of NHS Employer, tells the BBC that the strike "gets in the way" of holding talks with the BMA.

    Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers

    We have no interest in junior doctors working excessive hours, and actually we have offered a series of things... I'm really hopeful that when the BMA return to the talks... we can in particular give junior doctors more confidence in both the pay offer that we're putting to them but also the protections, the improved protections we want to put in place around their safety, the guardian role we want to introduce, the system of financial penalties the government want to put in place when they're required to do so. I am desperate to avoid another repeat of industrial action at the end of the month. It's not in their interest and it's not in the interest of patients.

    Danny Mortimer, Chief executive, NHS Employers

  6. Junior doctors' strike - examining the numbers

    Nick Triggle
    Health Correspondent

    The figures just released by NHS England do not necessarily show there was not strong support for the strikes.  

    They show that 39% of the junior doctors who were expected in  work turned up for work – that’s about 10,000 medics. This is not surprising as doctors had agreed to provide emergency care cover. 

    You could reasonably expect about a quarter of the day’s workforce to be involved in emergency care, so that would suggest 7,000 or so would have agreed to come in. The rest, the BMA believes, are likely to be doctors who are not members of the union. 

    After all, the union’s membership was pretty adamant it was prepared to strike: 98% voted in favour.

  7. 110 outpatient appointments cancelled in Stoke

    The strike action has led to the Royal Stoke and County Hospitals cancelling 110 outpatient appointments. 

    At Leighton in Crewe, the Trust says 38 junior doctors are part of the action, and 18 non-urgent operations have been cancelled, with 133 appointments re-arranged.

  8. 'An all-out doctors' strike would be unprecedented'

    Hugh Pym
    BBC News Health Editor

    Technically, this is the first doctors' strike since 2012, when there was a one-day walkout by all NHS union staff over pensions, again covering routine and non-urgent care. It is the first doctors' pay and conditions strike since the 1970s. 

    If the all-out doctors' strike on 10 February goes ahead, covering emergencies as well as routine care, that would be unprecedented in the history of the NHS. 

    With regard to the negotiations, the ACAS process is ongoing and the two sides are set to get round the table again later this week. 

  9. BMA responds to working doctors claim

    Regarding the government's claim that 39% of junior doctors - out of a possible 26,000 - have reported for duty on the day shift, the British Medical Association has issued a statement.  

    Its spokesman said: "Since we asked junior doctors who would be covering emergency care to go into work today it is hardly surprising that they have done so along with those who are not members of the BMA. 

    "The simple fact is that the government cannot ignore the thousands who have today made it quite clear what they think of the government's plans."

  10. NHS England: 'It's a tough day'

    As expected, unfortunately, this action has caused disruption to patient care and we apologise to all patients affected. It’s a tough day but the NHS is pulling out all the stops, with senior doctors and nurses often stepping in to provide cover. We are actively monitoring the situation across the country and the impact of the action is broadly in line with what we were expecting. NHS trusts are now working hard to reschedule cancelled tests, appointments and operations as soon as is possible. We will continue to work closely with hospitals and other NHS providers across the country to ensure that contingency plans are in place and that they can safely provide the urgent and emergency services needed."

    Anne Rainsberry, National incident director, NHS England

  11. NHS England: Update on strike numbers

    NHS England have issued an update saying 39% of junior doctors have reported for duty on the day shift, out of a possible 26,000. 

    They also said that 3,454 routine operations and procedures due to take place today have been cancelled as a result of the industrial action.

  12. Hunt: The right thing to do is talk

    Jeremy Hunt: The right thing to do is talk and not put patients' lives at risk.

  13. GMB Union joins Wakefield's picket

    Members of the GMB Union have joined junior doctors on the picket line at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.    

    GMB Union members join the picket at Pinderfields HospitalDeanne Ferguson

    The junior doctors taking strike action today are not in the least bit militant, their professional life is totally driven out of caring for others. The fact that they have been backed into a corner to take today's action shows how wrong, or of touch and uncaring this government is."

    Tim Roache, General secretary, GMB Union

  14. Hunt: doctors need to restart negotiations

    Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt tells BBC Radio 4's World at One that junior doctors need to restart negotiations.

    Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt tells junior doctors that they need to restart negotiations.

  15. Operations cancelled in Hull and East Yorkshire

    The strike by junior doctors has led to 13 non-urgent operations being cancelled at Hull and East Yorkshire hospitals today. Across East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, 644 appointments have had to be cancelled.

  16. Jeremy Hunt calls for end to 'unnecessary dispute'

    Jeremy Hunt

    I'd like to thank the junior doctors who ignored the BMA national advice and did go back to work. And I think that shows the values of the vast majority of junior doctors. In the end this is a completely unnecessary dispute. We have some disagreements with the BMA over pay. But we all want to promise every patient who uses the NHS the promise of the same high quality care every day of the week. And at the moment we have an NHS where if you have a stroke at the weekends, you're 20% more likely to die. That can't be acceptable. And the right thing to do is not to strike, but actually sit round the table and talk to the government about how we deliver a truly seven-day NHS."

    Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt

  17. Hunt urges BMA to resume negotiations
    Breaking

    Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has urged the British Medical Association to return to the negotiating table instead of carrying on with "unnecessary strikes".

    He told the BBC the union should hold fresh talks with the government about "how to improve patient safety" following the breakdown of negotiations over the contract. 

    "The right thing to do is to sit round the table and talk to the government about how we improve patient safety and patient care, not these very unnecessary strikes."

  18. Picket swells at St Thomas' Hospital

    A BBC News political producer tweets:

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  19. World Medical Association backs strike

    Journalist Andrew Gregory tweets:

  20. Health correspondent live on Facebook chat

    Nick Triggle

    BBC health correspondent Nick Triggle is now on Facebook, answering your questions about the junior doctor strike.