Data from England's National Health Service shows 78 percent of its junior physicians did not report for duty Tuesday, including those in emergency care, according to The Guardian.
This means more than 21,600 physicians were absent, and though the count includes sick workers, most were on strike, protesting a contract proposed by Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt. At issue in the contract is a downward adjustment on the number of hours a junior physician can receive overtime pay for. However, the contract does increase general pay. The physicians have threatened to strike many times over the past several months during contract negotiations and after Mr. Hunt attempted to impose the contract on the junior physicians.
Early Tuesday, British Prime Minister backed Mr. Hunt and condemned the strikes.
"There is a good contract on the table with a 13.5% increase in basic pay — 75 percent of doctors will be better off with this contract," he said on ITV News, according to The Guardian. "It's the wrong thing to do to go ahead with this strike, and particularly to go ahead with the withdrawal of emergency care — that is not right."
Johann Malawana, chair of the British Medical Association's junior physicians committee, said it was the "saddest day in NHS history," and that it was "entirely avoidable" if NHS was willing to negotiate, according to the report. Public support remains with the physicians.
Nonetheless, Mr. Hunt does not seem ready to budge. He said his current position will likely be his last in politics and he is determined to "do the right thing to help make the NHS one of the safest, highest quality health services in the world," according to the report.
More articles on integration and physician issues:
WSU Physician Group reaffirms it will not sell out to DMC
6 things to know about physician net worth, debt
After 3 years, Noble Health Alliance to break up