LETTER: Senior doctors from around Nottinghamshire publish letter supporting industrial action as hospital strike looms

The letter - co-written by more than a dozen senior doctors from around the county - states that, while regrettable, the decision to strike is completely justified.

It reads: “Junior doctors are not ‘junior’ and are often in their 30s having undergone extensive medical training prior to becoming GPs or hospital consultants.

“They work in every part of a hospital or general practice and they are the backbone of the NHS.

“They already work long and antisocial hours undertaking shift work involving nights and weekends.

“The public should not be fooled by the government’s suggestions that the proposed new contract will increase the likelihood of seven day a week services being routinely available in the NHS .

“Juniors have always been obliged to work on a seven day a week basis. But by imposing a contract that changes the definition of anti-social hours and removes restrictions on the length of their shifts juniors work, the government will, we believe, force many more overworked, disillusioned doctors to choose to work abroad, where their skills, dedication and reasonable desire for tolerable working conditions are more readily appreciated.

“This will make it harder to find the medical workforce needed to maintain existing NHS services, never mind the seven-day service the government claims it can deliver at no extra cost to the taxpayer.