Disruptions continue as junior doctors strike enters second day

Junior doctors across England are once again on strike, causing disruptions to NHS services across the country.

The scheduled two-day industrial action will continue until 17:00 today (April 27th), with junior doctors completely withdrawing their labour – including for emergency care – for the first time in the history of the NHS.

According to the earliest available data from NHS England, 78 percent of junior doctors who were expected to be working on April 26th – or 21,608 members of staff – did not report for duty on the day.

If patterns from the previous round of strike action between April 6th and 8th have been replicated, then it can be estimated that 88 percent of these were actually taking part in the strike, rather than being absent for other reasons such as illness.

It is estimated that 12,711 elective operations will be postponed over the period of April 18th to May 2nd, with 112,856 postponed outpatient appointments over the same timeframe.

Dr Anne Rainsberry, national incident director for NHS England, said: "The NHS is open for business, but in some places may be under specific pressure. We ask the public to use it wisely in this very challenging time, as some services may change and some may be busier than usual."