LONDON: Thousands of junior doctors began a second strike at English hospitals on Wednesday against proposed new working conditions and pay rates.

Talks between the Department of Health and the British Medical Associ­ation doctors’ trade union have reached an impasse over weekend pay rates.

Junior doctors — all medics below consultant level — were providing emergency care only from 8am in the 24-hour strike.

Nearly 3,000 operations have been postponed, Natio­nal Health Service (NHS) England said. The main point of dispute between doctors and the government is over whether Saturday should be classed and paid as a normal working day.

A first 24-hour strike was staged on January 12. A 48-hour strike planned for January 26 was called off.

Prime Minister David Cameron’s centre-right government says the reforms are needed to help create a “seven days a week” NHS where the quality of care is as high at the weekends as on weekdays.

There are more than 50,000 junior doctors in England, making up a third of the medical workforce.

They are qualified medical practitioners who work while studying for qualifications for more senior roles.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2016