The first strike by medical doctors in England in four decades disrupted care for thousands of patients on Tuesday, heightening tensions over the stewardship of a widely revered health system that has come under growing strain.
Tens of thousands of junior doctors, a term that covers medical professionals with as much as a decade of experience, were believed to have refused to work, providing only emergency coverage because of a dispute over pay and working conditions, notably weekend shifts.
The strike led to the cancellation of around 4,000 nonurgent operations, such as routine procedures for knee and hip replacements, and Prime Minister David Cameron warned that the strike would create “real difficulties for patients and potentially worse.”
The popularity of the program means that the dispute carries risks for the government.