The days are wearing on in an increasingly bitter battle between doctors and the government - as thousands of medics continue to stage walkouts at hospitals across the country.
Ahead of Easter weekend, NHS leaders voiced concerns that the sheer volume of patients needing help following the bank holiday would outstrip the number of consultants covering those on strike. Indeed, recent days have seen junior doctors pulled away from the picket line at Weston General Hospital amid fears there were not enough senior staff to keep patients safe.
Junior doctors - a term which applies to any doctor from those who have just graduated to those who have spent years in the service, before becoming a consultant - make up almost half the NHS’ medical workforce. Of those, there are more than 60,000 eligible to strike, threatening to leave hospitals even more short staffed than usual at a time of exceptionally high demand.
