Junior Doctor Strike Biggest In NHS History

Three-day walkout over low pay

- Martin Bagot

DOCTORS today begin three days of strikes, the longest continuous walkout in 75 years of the NHS.

The British Medical Association warned there could be a mass exodus Down Under if the Tories do not settle the dispute by the summer.

More than 70,000 junior doctors could take part to demand an end to a decade of below-inflation pay deals.

Consultants and nurses will fill in today, but A&E departments will have only about half their usual staff.

Dr Rob Laurenson, the co-chair of the BMA junior doctors committee, said: "They want to drag us through the mud and turn the public against doctors. But it's not going to work. They need to come up with a very quick resolution.