Stand Up For The NHS. Stand By The Doctors And Nurses.

In the first strike by hospital doctors in 40 years, as many as 38,000 members of the British Medical Association (BMA) across England began the action at 8am yesterday.

Nurses and junior doctors are the backbone of the NHS. This Government is treating them shabbily. It plans to impose a new contract on junior doctors and has announced the withdrawal of training bursaries for student nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. The Government is against free public services. Junior doctors have rejected their new contract. Jeremy Hunt has promised nothing of substance and the contract remains a threat. These attacks are both unsafe and unfair. Unsafe because the contract removes the safeguards against doctors in training working excessively long hours; and because student nurses will be working 70 – hour weeks. How can anyone learn while they are tired? This will increase risk to patients and the quality of care. Unfair because for many doctors it will mean pay cuts and/or even longer antisocial hours; and because student nurses will be forced to pay tuition fees if bursaries are abolished, even though they work for the NHS while they study.

These photographs were taken yesterday on the picket line (one of 150 throughout England) at the Royal Hospital Liverpool. The striking junior doctors were joined by members of the public supporting their fight.