Shropshire's junior doctors join 24hr strike across England
Junior doctors at Shropshire's two main hospitals have joined a 24-hour strike across England over pay and changes to their contracts.
Doctors, who are members of the British Medical Association, are striking after talks with the government about changes to working hours broke down once again on January 6.
An identical strike was cancelled at the last minute in December when talks were resumed.
The government wants to cut the number of hours classed as ‘unsociable’, for which doctors can claim extra pay, and are offering an 11pc pay increase to compensate.
But doctors say that amounts to a pay cut and also object to the government removing safeguards to punish hospitals that overwork doctors.
Unless there is a breakthrough in the talks, today's strike action will be followed by a 48-hour strike on January 26 and a full walkout between 8am and 5pm on February 10.
Dr Edwin Borman, Medical Director at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said: “We recognise that this period of national industrial action will lead to some concern amongst our patients. But I can once again assure them that we are working hard across both our hospitals to ensure that any impact on patients is kept to a minimum.
“There will, naturally, be some impact for some of our patients, potentially having elective operations or clinics postponed, we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”
