Doctors' strike: live - Telegraph 10.05 Junior doctor Jonathan Fisher has witten to the Telegraph outlining why he is "entirely in opposition" to the industrial action, adding that he is considering resigning his BMA membership. I am a junior doctor who has, and will be affected by the pension reforms introduced by the current government. I am also entirely in opposition to the industrial action taking place. Whilst I can understand the feelings of doctors regarding the pension reforms and other issues within the workplace that are far from ideal, I think the response is inappropriate. The "strong mandate" that the BMA claim ignores the fact that many doctors are no longer BMA members, having been unhappy with the way the union represents its members on a number of issues. Having previously held a national-level position within the BMA I am disappointed that they have decided to pursue action that will not only be ineffective, but will also tarnish the public perception of all doctors, even if they take no part in the industrial action. I think this action is short-sighted and ill conceived, and I am considering resigning my BMA membership as a result. I hope that the actions of a minority do not harm the important relationship that doctors have with the public and ultimately, with their patients. 09.50 Dean Royles, director of the NHS Employers organisation, and Mike Farrar, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, released this statement via the NHS Employers website: It is hugely disappointing that the NHS and its patients are facing this day of industrial action. We are deeply concerned about the distress it will cause patients, as well as the anxiety it will cause to many of our staff who want to ensure their patients are not put at risk. We will find out whether the plans to protect urgent and emergency care that employers have been working on can hold up in the face of the first doctors' strike in nearly 40 years. It is important for people to remember that if they need to see a GP urgently, they will still be seen. As ever, only call 999 or go to your A&E if it is an emergency. Feelings run high about industrial action. An ill timed word or comment between staff can contaminate relationships and poison working environments for months or years to come. Mike Farrar added: Whatever the right and wrongs of this dispute between doctors and the Government, I feel passionately that patients should not be dragged into the argument. NHS trusts have been pulling out all the stops to minimise the effect on patients. But this day will have an impact on the service and will cause disruption for many. Good relations between all the constituent parts of the NHS are crucial to its success. It is important that strong feelings about pensions do not spill over into the longer term. 09.31 Health Secretary Andrew Lansley meanwhile is going on the offensive this morning, warning doctors not to participate in the "pointless" strike. I know doctors don't want to go on strike. I hope they don't. I think if they have an argument and they're angry, they're angry with the Government and that's our job to represent the taxpayer and the public interest, and maybe we will have that argument. But I can't see why anybody thinks there is any benefit in penalising patients. It won't serve any purpose whatsoever. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley 09.15 It appears Dr Meldrum is doing interviews across the media this morning.He told ITV's Daybreak: I hope (the action) is not pointless and futile because we are very anxious to seek a resolution to this dispute and if this helps to highlight the problem and to get to that resolution then I hope it will have some point to it. Nobody is happy about taking any sort of action that impacts adversely on patients. There has been a lot of soul-searching at the BMA but we have to represent our members' views and nearly three-quarters of those who voted wanted to take this sort of action because of what was happening to their pensions. Nobody likes taking anything that will inconvenience patients and I know a lot of doctors who have taken this step very unwillingly. Of course doctors are not on strike today - all doctors are at their place of work, they will be seeing anybody who is urgent or who needs to be seen. It is not a strike in the normal sense. The nature of the work that doctors do, it is very difficult to do anything that won't have some impact on patients. We doctors have enjoyed a good relationship, high trust, with their patients and we don't want to do anything to get rid of that, but what we feel we've had is lack of trust from the Government. We negotiated a deal on pensions four years ago that meant that doctors would work longer, they would pay more and that they would take the risk of any future increase or impact of people living longer on the pension scheme and the Government has walked away from that deal. I hope that after today we can sit down and we can talk. Nobody wants more of this, nobody wants a repeat of this. I'm not out to inconvenience patients because of this. Our fight is not with patients it is with the Government. 09.00 Chairman of the British Medical Association, Dr Hamish Meldrum, got the John Humphrys treatment on the BBC's Today Programme this morning: Hunphrys: Whatever the merits of your case - and we've seen many people do not believe it has any merit - is [the strike] worth it for all the damage it is doing to the public perception of your profession? Your are doing enormous damage to your reputation. Meldrum: I want to emphasise that no patients are being put at risk... we have to respond to what our members say. No one wants to take action that Inconveniences patients... I really hope we can find a resolution soon and I urge the Government to talk. 08.55 Allison Pearson is scathing in her comment piece today, writing that the strike is a grave, self-inflicted wound: It was the week in which half of all teachers admitted that they take food into school to feed hungry children and a poll revealed that seven million working British adults are just one bill away from financial disaster. It's not all bad news, folks. Paupers" graves are booming. There has been a record rise in that melancholy and damning symbol of human loneliness and destitution. So, dare I suggest this is perhaps not the ideal day for a bunch of middle-class professionals to go on strike because a bit of icing is about to be scraped off their pension cake? The thought of such spoilt behaviour from anyone is enough to make you queasy. It's the fact that today's strikers are doctors that really makes you want to lunge for the grey cardboard hospital spitoon. Oh, those poor doctors, cancelling long-awaited hip replacements with the heart-rending cry, "How on earth am I supposed to rub along on a pension of £60,000 a year?" 08.48 As ever, our cartoonist Matt says it best: 08.42 Today's Telegraph editorial argues that the doctors' strike will harm not just patients. Although a solid majority of the British Medical Association's members voted for industrial action, it appears that many are now having second thoughts. 08.38 Health Secretary Andrew Lansley yesterday lambasted the BMA for calling a "pointless" strike that, he claims will "achieve nothing." 08.26 Our medical editor Rebecca Smith writes that support for the doctors" strike was crumbling last night after a public backlash caused many who voted for action to have second thoughts. In May, the British Medical Association insisted it had a "strong" mandate for industrial action - its first strike in nearly 40 years - when half its members responded to a ballot with 79 per cent of votes in favour. But a survey by The Daily Telegraph found that two thirds of GP surgeries expected to have all their doctors working on Thursday and would be open for business as usual. The vast majority of hospitals said few or no operations would be cancelled. The slump in support for industrial action over pensions follows fierce public criticism and claims that doctors are being "greedy and immoral." One poll on Wednesday found that only a third of Britons backed the action. David Cameron said doctors should not strike as most already had gold-plated pensions which people working in the private sector "can only dream of." But a survey of 50 NHS organisations showed that many have had second thoughts. 08.22 We have put this piece together looking at how the doctors' strike will affect you. What's happening today? In theory up to 100,000 BMA members, representing 70 per cent of doctors, could effectively go on strike in a row over changes to pensions. However, they are not obliged to observe the action under BMA rules, and a survey of 20 primary care organisations suggest that fewer than a quarter of GP surgeries are going to take part. The action will last 24 hours, starting at a minute past midnight on Thursday morning. Doctors taking part in the industrial action will attend their surgeries and hospitals as normal but will only see to patients needing urgent and emergency care, including mothers in labour. What's the likely disruption this time? The Department of Health estimates that up to 1.25 million GP appointments will have to be rebooked, if all family doctors strike, including 140,000 appointments for children under 14 and 400,000 for pensioners. The department has also warned that up to 700 hip and knee replacement operations could be delayed, 1,350 cataracts removals, as well as 16,000 other operations. Appointments cancelled could run to 7,500 in cardiology and 7,500 in paediatrics. However, it is highly unlikely there will be disruption on such scale. While four in five BMA members voted for action, it is becoming clear that most have decided not to do so. 08.04 Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of today's Doctors' strike. The BMA, representing two thirds of doctors, is taking industrial action over cuts to their £1million pension pots. Under government proposals, new doctors will have to work until 68 and make bigger contributions to earn a pension worth £68,000 a year.