Advertisement

  1. National

Junior doctors return to work as talks begin to avoid next walk-out

Doctors have ended their strike and returned to work amid new hope that a deal over changes to their contracts can be reached before the next planned 48-hour walkout.

Thousands of junior doctors walked out for 24 hours, while around 4,000 operations had to be cancelled.

Two further strikes are planned but talks are expected to resume in an effort to break the stalemate.

View all 40 updates ›

Thousands on picket lines in junior doctors' strike

More than 14 hours into the first junior doctors' strike in 40 years, the divide between health staff and the government remains as wide as ever.

Thousands turned out to man picket lines, with routine appointments and operations postponed as a result, as the dispute over contract changes continues.

ITV News health editor Rachel Younger reports:

In numbers:

  • 26,000 junior doctors were rostered on to work on the day shift today
  • According to NHS England, 39% of them - around 10,000 - turned up. Most of those were in emergency care, which was not covered by strike action
  • 71% of staff were on shift today - so more than a quarter were off
  • 3,454 operations were postponed or cancelled as a result

More on this story