Junior doctors go on strike
It is the 11th time the junior doctors in England have walked out in their long pay dispute. They know that every time they do, it is the patience that suffer. It's awful to have been waiting for so long and then to have your appointments. Cancelled. And I'm really sorry that you know that it's happened to them and I'd, I'd like to apologize to them. During their last strike, 91,000 appointments, procedures and operations were cancelled. One of those affected was cancer survivor Donia, who decided to go private, something she could barely afford. I have to have annual colonoscopies because I have had cancerous tumors in my colon. I was on the list supposed to on the NHS, supposed to have my colonoscopy. It got cancelled the first time because of the strikes and after that I didn't hear from them. Junior doctors want a 35% pay increase. The government says they simply can't fund it. In a little over a weeks time a new government will be taking shape and junior doctors who account for half of the medical workforce want their pay dispute to be top of the in trade inside #10. Their union, the BMA, says Labour S shadow health secretary wears Streeting appears to be listening to their demands. Any government could do something different. Full pay restoration is just getting a doctor from £15 an hour to £21.00 an hour. For us it means that doctors will stay here in the NHS. It means doctors will be on more well staffed rotors. But more importantly for patients it means they get the care they deserve. Collective strike action within the NHS in England is thought to have cost nearly £3 billion. Heat wave and a cyber attack on hospitals in London is also adding to the pressures. Our focus is on ensuring that we maintain patient safety, so we will be prioritising emergency and urgent care. That does unfortunately mean we will see some disruptions. This dispute started 20 months ago. It has been a dividing line in politics, but whoever tackles it next, the NHS and the junior doctors themselves all want to resolve it. Lisa Dowd, Sky News, Nottingham.