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Tens of thousands of appointments are set to be canceled in young doctors' latest industrial action, with NHS bosses saying the walkout is 'the most disruptive to date"< /p> Young doctors in England have seen a pay cut of 26% in real terms since 2008/09 (

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Young doctors across England have gone on a five-day strike in what has been described as 'the longest doctors' strike in NHS history' - amid ongoing disputes over pay and working conditions.

Tens of thousands of NHS appointments and operations are set to be canceled following the British Medical Association (BMA) walkout, while the total waiting list in England rises to a record 7.4 million appointments.

Around 600,000 NHS appointments have already been canceled or postponed due to industrial action by doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers in recent months.

Junior doctors took to the picket lines at 7am this morning after the BMA rejected a 5% pay reward offered by the Tories, who are now refusing to negotiate.

This comes as the BMA continues to campaign for pay restoration, with the union saying young doctors in England have seen their pay cut by 26% in real terms since 2008/09 as pay rises have were lower than inflation.

The union is calling for a full wage restoration which the government says would amount to a 35% pay rise - which ministers say is unaffordable.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: 'It is disappointing that the BMA is continuing its strike. This five-day walkout by junior doctors will impact thousands of patients, put patient safety at risk danger and will hamper efforts to reduce NHS waiting lists.”

He added: "If the BMA shows its willingness to deviate significantly from its current wage demands and reverses these damaging and disruptive strikes, we can come together to find a fair deal to resolve this. dispute." Mr Barclay called the current wage demand 'unreasonable' and said it risked fueling inflation, making everyone poorer.

Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivendi, who chair the BMA's Young Doctors Committee, said: "The government has missed opportunity after opportunity to provide a credible offer and potentially end the industrial action by young doctors in England.< /p>

"We can call off this strike today if the UK Government simply follows the Scottish Government's lead and drops its absurd precondition of not speaking while strikes are announced and produces a credible offer to do so. .