'It saddens all of us every day': The stark plea from Manchester's doctors as strike action continues

There was a rallying cry for change in the NHS as junior doctors hit picket lines across Greater Manchester for the second consecutive morning. Woolly hats and hot drinks were needed as members of the British Medical Association (BMA) took to picket lines on a bitter Wednesday morning (April 12) for day two of a four-day strike.

But spirits were high among colleagues who say their battle is about more than just pay. With thousands of doctor vacancies across the NHS, junior doctors insist the quality of care for patients is at stake.

"We don't have as many doctors as we should have," Dr Bradley Allmond, a junior doctor at North Manchester General Hospital, told the Manchester Evening News. "We're trying to get more staff in hospitals, more doctors, to be able to deliver the safe patient care that we all want to do - that's what we got into medicine for.

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"We want to deliver care to patients, and we're finding that increasingly harder and harder as the months, weeks, years go on. Every successive round of the 'worst winter we've ever had', it's getting harder."

The BMA wants to secure a 35% pay increase for junior doctors. The union says pay for junior doctors has fallen by 26.1% in real terms since 2008/09, while its members have also been affected by surging inflation over the past year.

The BMA says junior doctors are being paid as little as £14 an hour to carry out vital operations. As of December 2022, there were 8,728 medical vacancies in England's NHS hospitals.

Junior doctors are taking a stand at 12 Greater Manchester hospitals this week, sending a clear call to Government for improved pay and conditions. Dr Allmond said: "We're trying to