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Jessica Elgot has the answers to the top five questions the British public is asking about the doctors strike on Google:

GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) "Why are junior doctors striking?" - Top questions on the #JuniorDoctorsStrike on @GoogleUK pic.twitter.com/dwXPgVHCpA

1 Is the junior doctors strike going ahead?

Yes. All junior doctors who are taking part - that’s all doctors below consultant level - will provide emergency care only, which has led to the cancellation of almost 3,000 operations. There are 55,000 junior doctors in England - a third of the workforce, and just over 37,000 are members of the BMA.



The strike comes less a month after the first 24-hour strike saw 38,000 doctors take part in the first industrial action of its kind for more than 40 years.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt claims that 43% of junior doctors have showed up to work - slightly more than during the first strike last month. But NHS England confirmed that the 43% figure included doctors who had never intended to strike, such as those working in emergency care.

BMA junior doctors leader, Dr Johann Malawana, said the BMA offered a deal “cost neutral” deal to end the dispute in last nights talks but the plan was rejected. “We have got a reasonable offer and the government has decided instead to play the political game rather than addressing the concerns of these doctors,” he said:



2 Why are junior doctors striking?

There is a bitter dispute between the junior doctors and the Department of Health over a new contract for the medics, which they claim will put patient safety at risk because of the strain on doctors.

Negotiations over the contract have been ongoing since 2012, but in November, the government proposed 11% rise in basic pay for junior medics. But it also proposed redefining what are seen as “unsociable hours”, and normal working hours would include shifts until late in the evening and over Saturdays.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt also wants to scrap guaranteed pay increases linked to experience, and replace it with set training stages. Doctors who work extra hours and qualify for premium payments may lose some income, but the junior doctors insist the strike is not about money.

Their main argument is that the new contract will mean they are working far more weekends and evenings, which they otherwise would have been paid extra to do. This is linked to the government’s oft-stated target of improving the number of services available at weekends - an ambition for a so-called ‘seven day NHS’ which doctors say already exists in practice.

Junior doctors, rather than consultants, already provide the vast bulk of the cover over antisocial hours.

The doctors are also angry at the suggestion by government that death rates are higher at the weekend because of less adequate care. The doctors claim this is because only the sickest patients are likely to seek treatment at the weekends.

The government has indicated it intends impose the new contract in England if now agreement can be reached, which has led to the industrial action process.

3 When is the junior doctors’ strike?

This strike began at 8am on Wednesday morning and will last for 24 hours, with junior doctors providing emergency care only, although in practice overnight cover is classified as emergency care anyway, so normal staffing levels should resume by late afternoon when junior doctors start their late shifts.

4 How can I support the junior doctors strike?

An Ipsos MORI survey for the Health Service Journal found 64% of people blame the Government for the strike, with just 13% blaming junior doctors.

Many members of the public have been visiting pickets to bring tea and food to striking doctors, as well as using social media and signs to show support. Doctors are also running #meetthedrs events in town centres to chat to the general public.

Louise Anning (@LouiseAnning) Brought to Royal Devon & Exeter picket line #IStandWithTheDrs #junioraction #juniordoctors pic.twitter.com/J9XouRM4Hu

#freeRaifBadawi (@davies42g) On Northumberland St in the Toon people queing to sign the #NHS petition. #MeetTheDrs pic.twitter.com/8j8vEL5fFv

Petitions are also running on both Change.org and 38 degrees where members of the public can pledge to support the junior doctors.



Dr Dagan Lonsdale, a junor doctor at St George’s hospital in south London told the Guardian: “We appreciate any support that people want to offer. The most helpful thing anyone can do is write to their MP to explain why they support us and ask them to support junior doctors in parliament.



Everyone is welcome to join a picket anywhere in the country. On social media we are using the #IAmTheDoctorWho to explain what we do.



Please join us in telling your stories. Patients are using #IAmThePatientWho to tell their own stories of how doctors and the NHS have helped them and why they support junior doctors.



5 What do Labour say about the junior doctors strike?

Heidi Alexander MP, Labour’s shadow health secretary, called the strike “disappointing” but laid the blame for the strike squarely at the feet of Jeremy Hunt. She said:

Today’s industrial action is deeply disappointing, particularly for the patients who have had hospital treatment delayed because of itThe sad truth is that it didn’t have to come to this. Jeremy Hunt’s handling of these negotiations has been a complete and utter shambles. His comments over the past few weeks and months have caused widespread anger among junior doctors and left staff morale at rock bottom. We urgently need to see a resolution to this dispute, which doesn’t involve imposing a new contract. Jeremy Hunt needs to stop hiding behind his desk in the Department of Health and get back round the negotiating table.

But Shadow Justice Secretary, Lord Falconer, said Labour was neutral on the strike: He said: