Striking doctors in England at loggerheads with hospitals over calls to return to work

By PAN PYLAS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The longest planned strike in the history of Britain’s state-funded National Health Service has entered its second day of six with doctors in England at loggerheads with hospitals over requests for some to return to work to cover urgent needs during one of busiest times of the year. The British Medical Association, the union that represents the bulk of the 75,000 or so striking doctors in the early stages of their careers, has warned that a system designed to allow medics to return to work as a result of “unexpected and extreme circumstances” was at risk because hospitals weren’t following the rules. Hospital managers said form-filling took time and could work against patient care.