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 ›

Junior doctors return to work after 24-hour walkout

Demonstrators protest in Westminster during the latest 24-hour doctors' strike. Credit: Xinhua/SIPA USA/PA Images

Junior doctors have returned to work after a 24-hour walkout over proposed new contracts.

The deadlock has shown little sign of breaking - with the major sticking pointing remaining over weekend pay and whether Saturday should be classed as a normal working day.

Around 1,140 planned inpatient procedures were cancelled as a result of the latest walkout, alongside 1,734 day procedures, according to analysis by NHS England.

NHS England confirmed that 43% of junior doctors reported for duty on the day shift - a figure including doctors who had never intended to strike, such as those working in emergency care.

More on this story