Junior doctors across England will launch a four-day strike on Tuesday (April 11) in a worsening dispute over pay which threatens huge disruption to the NHS.
An estimated 350,000 appointments, including operations, will be cancelled as a result of the walkout by members of the British Medical Association (BMA). Doctors will mount picket lines outside hospitals from 7am until Saturday morning in the longest stoppage of the wave of unrest, which has seen nurses, ambulance crews and other health workers take action since last year.
Managers have said patient care is “on a knife edge” because of the strike, while NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor said the number of appointments cancelled, previously suggested to be 250,000, was likely to rise by another 100,000.
