The picket line outside St Thomas' Hospital in London is starting to get busier as junior doctors take part in the second day of their all-out strike.

BBC News correspondent Catriona Renton said services for most hospitals ran smoothly on Wednesday, with some being quieter than normal.

But she said there was concern there could be a surge in demand once strikes end because of all of the operations and appointments that have been postponed during the walk-out. 

Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent

The health service seems to be continuing to cope really well. 

Overnight junior doctors who returned to work have told me how well everything has run. 

No doubt helped by the numbers of patients who have stayed away - apparently heeding warnings to come to hospital only if absolutely necessary. 

Some junior doctors described the cover consultants have provided as “impeccable”.

Now the second all-out strike is under way NHS bosses say they will continue to “vigilantly monitor” what is happening.

The BBC has been speaking to patients whose appointments have been cancelled because of the junior doctor strikes and have been asking whether or not they are in favour of the walk-out. 

John Butt had been due to have a pre-operative assessment for his prostate when junior doctors went on strike. 

He said he saw grown men cry because they had their operations cancelled.

Mr Butt said: "Junior doctors do not seem to care about what they are doing to the NHS.

They are doing a lot of damage."

It's 08:00, and day two of the junior doctors' strike is under way. Senior doctors are providing emergency cover again and hospitals are hoping that patients will stay away.

Emergency protocols have been agreed to allow hospitals to call for junior doctors to return to work if patients are at risk, but they were not used by any NHS trust on Tuesday.

Just short of 80% of junior doctors did not turn up for work on Tuesday. We'll let you know as soon as the figures come through for today.  

We've been speaking to patients who have had appointments cancelled this week and asking why they are for or against the walkouts.  

Image source, Hannah Ginsing

Among them is 21-year-old Hannah Ginsing, who has a tumour in the pituitary gland in her brain which caused her to develop Cushing's disease. She was promised surgery to remove the tumour before Christmas but had to wait. Then, her appointment yesterday was cancelled and she has no idea when this will be rebooked, leaving her devastated.

Her mother, Wendy, an advanced nurse practitioner, says she's seen how dangerous sleep deprivation in doctors can be and supports the junior doctors. 

Dr Andrew Collier, a junior doctor and BMA representative, talks to BBC Breakfast before walking out for a second day.

In a plea to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, he says: "Call off this contract and we'll get back to work". Doctors, he says, tried to talk to Mr Hunt for many years but it was only when the threat of industrial action arose that he started to make changes. He accuses Mr Hunt of being unclear on how many issues still need resolving, saying different numbers seem to "spew" from his mouth. He adds if a seven-day working week is what he wants, proper funding is needed. On walking out today, he says:

The reasons for the strike? It's complicated. Here, we do our best to answer all your questions from what's it all about to how might doctors' contracts change. And, what does this all mean for the rest of the UK?

Image source, AFP

Our newspaper reviewer John Hand takes a look at how the newspapers are covering day one of the strike.

He writes: The Financial Times says the strike "showed few signs of crumbling" with eight out of 10 junior doctors taking part. Or as the Sun puts it, equally accurately,, external one in five defied the strike by turning up for work.

The Times reports that no hospitals were forced to take emergency measures, things ran surprisingly smoothly and "patients on ghost wards" are finding "it's an excellent time to be ill".

After Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that his current position is likely to be his "last big job in politics", the Daily Mirror's Jason Beattie is quick to start drafting a political obituary. He writes that it is not a surprise that Mr Hunt does not expect another job, external as "any half-competent HR manager would make sure his CV was at the bottom of the pile".

The advice for patients from NHS England bosses today is to use services "wisely". Early reports from Tuesday suggested hospitals had coped well during the first day of the walkout, with some saying they were quieter than normal. Milton Keynes Hospital pointed out some services actually ran more quickly because there were more consultants on hand to make quick decisions.  

A dedicated webpage, external has been set up on NHS Choices to provide more information for patients about the strike.  

Junior doctors in England are set to go on strike again from 08:00 BST. For the second day in a row, they will not be providing emergency care. 

In his BBC Newsnight interview late on Tuesday, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said that the BMA was "not prepared to sit round and discuss this [the contract] in a reasonable way".

He also went on to say that many doctors "did not understand how hard the government has worked" to try to reach a solution.

"We have had 75 meetings over a three-year period," he said.