Thousands of junior doctors have gone on strike across England as the dispute with the British government over pay continues.

The 72-hour walkout by medics with up to eight years of experience as a hospital doctor or three years in general practice ran until 7:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Saturday and is expected to lead to thousands of National Health Service (NHS) appointments and operations being cancelled.

This came as NHS chiefs warned that the number of people seeking emergency help would rise as the hot weather continued across the UK.

The junior doctors’ strike is the third this year and is expected to cause mass disruption.

There have also been concerns about staffing, with some consultants saying they would not provide strike cover unless their employers agreed to a higher overtime rate.

The British Medical Association (BMA) calls for “full restoration” of pay, which it says has seen a 26 per cent cut.

The government has offered five per cent to end the dispute.

In a statement, Vivek Trivedi and Robert Laurenson, co-chairmen of the BMA junior doctors committee, criticised the government’s refusal to address their concerns, stating “junior doctors are looking for the full restoration of our pay, which has seen a 26 per cent cut.”

The junior doctors in England had seen their pay cut in real terms by more than a quarter over the last 15 years.

Doctors would join picket lines outside their hospitals on Wednesday (today). This would include Oxford, Birmingham, London and Manchester in the rallies.

Rory Deighton, director of the acute network at the NHS Confederation, said he was concerned about the strike’s impact.

Earlier this week, Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, said the latest strike could impact almost all routine or pre-planned care.

A similar walkout by junior doctors in April saw 196,000 hospital appointments and pre-planned operations rescheduled.

On Wednesday, Mr Powis said, “The NHS is facing significant disruption this week with a three-day strike that is set to be exacerbated by the ongoing hot weather.”

(dpa/NAN)