We asked the young doctors why they are on strike

Junior doctors on strike were outside the Central Manchester University Hospitals today protesting against the new working hours contract

Through intermittent patches of sunshine and sleet, the young doctors were out in full force today, protesting against the new NHS junior doctor contract proposals.

I went down to the university hospital to get an idea of the pressure they’re under and why they’re really on strike.

First I asked what was the purpose of the strike, and the protest outside the hospital.

Pippa, trainee paediatric doctor

“There are many reasons. The bottom line is that there are concerns regarding the longevity of the new NHS contract. It’s deeply detrimental.

“They are thinly stretching the same number of doctors over five elective days and seven days of emergency service. There are so many rota gaps already, care will be affected.”

I then asked what the young doctors were hoping to achieve from the protest.

Megan, doctor

“We want to show that doctors, the union and the public are all against the contract. We need to make Cameron and Hunt think again about what they’re doing.

“Our aim is to get back to negotiations and make improvements to the contract.”

Ruth, psychiatrist

“We’re protesting because Hunt is not prepared to fund the extra two days of work he’s proposing. It’s not safe for us to work for free. There simply aren’t doctors. It’s dangerous for us to work tired.”

Jez, junior doctor and Joanna, registrar

I asked, is Jeremy Hunt to blame for all of this?

Jez: “Definitely. He needs to spend time with doctors to understand their life and work balance.”

Joanna: “The manifesto was ill advised and he discriminates against women, which is a huge proportion of the NHS workforce.”

Rebecca, paediatric registrar and Piyush, trainee psychiatrist

This pair disagreed:

Rebecca: “He’s is not solely to blame, he’s the figure head. He is not the source of all problems within the NHS, there are many people responsible for wider problems. However, he is responsible for the contract.”

Piyush: “He has had support from David Cameron and the entire leadership.”

Some protesters held banners saying “It’s not about the money”, so I asked what it really is about, if not money.

Medicine students, Greg and Dan

Dan: “It’s about patient safety. They’re spreading five days work over seven days and claiming that they’re reducing hours. They’re removing provisions. We can’t work tired.”

Greg: “They’re trying to make the emergency service seven days and this isn’t necessarily required. There aren’t even provisions to have a five day service currently. Everyone will move abroad. I’m 50/50 considering it and I haven’t even started yet.”

Max, trainee anaesthetist 

“It wasn’t about the money from the outset. There was a restructuring of the way we were paid, enabling us to work more out of hours but the evidence that this would work was inconclusive.

“Speciality departments are having their hours and pay increased, but if you increase their wage, it has to come from somewhere. Other people are experiencing wage deductions and therefore recruitment is becoming an issue. The NHS is rapidly losing doctors.”

I wanted to know more about how often these strikes are taking place and whether the end was in sight.

Jessie, paediatrics and Alicia, medical oncology

Jessie: “They’ve been going on since the beginning of this year. And whether they will continue depends what the government does. We don’t want to strike, we have to. We don’t want to leave our patients, but the risk for them is bigger long term if we don’t.

Alicia: “It’s clear that the government wants to negotiate, Hunt is the only one who doesn’t want to talk.”

Jenny urology ST4 and Erin, A&E ST4

Jenny: “This is our first time on strike and hopefully it won’t happen again.”

Erin: “I actually thought it would be called off due to disagreements, I was waiting for the cancellation text this morning. But here we are.”