This morning, outside Salford Royal Hospital, junior doctors entered the second day of their all out strike more determined than ever to try and halt the Tory Government imposing unfair and unsafe contracts upon them.
"It's going really well" said junior doctor Cavita Patel "I'm extremely impressed by the turnout for the strike yesterday, which was about 78% but I don't know if that includes people on holidays, off days or nights. The consultants have been really good covering for us and overall it has made an impact.
"There's been a lot of media attention and, on the whole, things are positive and there's been a lot of support from the public" she added "Even now people are passing in cars and beeping. The support is good, even though we've gone with a full walkout, so we're really happy."
While virtually everyone supports the junior doctors, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and the Tory Government is refusing to be moved by public opinion and the dispute is set to continue...
"The BMA hasn't issued anything about what the next steps would be" explained Cavita "But if they don't come back to the negotiating table I feel that there's enough drive to continue this. We don't want to back down; we don't want to let the Government push this contract through. We've come this far and I think we've done really well. It would be a shame to just take a step back.
"We want to get back to the negotiating table" she added "And if the only way to get the Government's attention is to keep striking then I guess that's what we'll have to do..."
Tonight, Salford people are meeting between 6pm and 7pm at the Royal Oak in Eccles to set up a Salford Junior Doctors Support Group
• See also previous Salford Star article on the first of this week's strikes – click here
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