News / Health
Bristol doctors’ messages to patients
Picket lines were formed in front of hospitals around Bristol on Tuesday morning as junior doctors began a 24-hour walk-out which caused appointments and operation to be postponed.
Fighting health secretary Jeremy Hunt over a new contract which would redefine unsociable hours, effectively reducing overtime pay, dozens stood in solidarity at entrances to their workplaces across the city.
Bristol24/7 visited three picket lines to ask doctors why they are striking and what messages they have for patients who have had operations cancelled:
is needed now More than ever
Louise Congdon, 28, pediatrician at Bristol Children’s Hospital:
Sean Cox, 35, cardeologist at BRI:
Rachel Cowie, 33, acute medical unit at BRI:
Under proposed new rules, junior doctors’ standard working hours would increase from 7am-7pm, Monday to Friday, to 7am-10pm, Monday to Friday and 7am-7pm on Saturdays. This will mean they lose out on additional pay as evenings and weekends would no longer been seen as overtime.
The new contract has been described as the “straw that breaks the camels back” for working conditions in the NHS.
Tuesday’s strike was the first of three planned for the coming weeks. The other two will take place on Tuesday, January 26, and Thursday, January 28. Junior doctors will provide emergency care only during theses times.
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