#ImInWorkJeremy: Doctors tweet selfies to prove they work weekends amid row with Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt

Medical staff have been tweeting images of themselves at work Credit: Twitter/@persiskb

Medical staff have been tweeting images of themselves at work this weekend, making their point to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt who has accused doctors of blocking his plan to introduced seven-day working as standard across the NHS.

The hashtag #ImInWorkJeremy was trending on Twitter on Saturday morning as doctors and nurses shared images of themselves at work.

Many of the at-work selfies are addressed to Health Secretary personally.

Some showed medical staff arriving for night shifts, or clocking off after long hours at work.

Other tweets were from family members, sent on behalf of their partners.

One user, @leesbrooks23, said he was tweeting "on behalf of my wife working 2 x 14hr shifts in hospital this weekend".

Mr Hunt has been embroiled in a row with the British Medical Association (BMA), the doctor's union, after he accused them of acting as a "roadblock to reform".

In a speech on Thursday, he outlined his plans for NHS reform on Thursday, announcing a move towards a seven-day health service.

He said that about 6,000 people die every year due to a lack of senior staff working at weekends and indicated the BMA had been resistant to his plans.

Mr Hunt said: "When I pointed this out to the BMA they told me to 'get real.' I simply say to the doctors' union that I can give them 6,000 reasons why they, not I, need to 'get real."

The BMA said doctors supported more seven-day hospital services but have repeatedly called for the Government to say how they will fund and staff the changes.

BMA council chairman Dr Mark Porter said: "Despite whatever the Health Secretary may claim, his simplistic approach ignores the fact that this is a much broader issue than just doctors' contracts."

Mr Hunt has giving the BMA six weeks to negotiate changes to working contracts for hospital consultants and junior doctors.

He later tweeted back in response to the series of selfies thanking NHS staff for their hard work.

"To drs on shift 2day: thx 4 ur hard work. Now we need 2 reflect that professionalism with modern contract to make NHS safer!"