Junior doctor strike: Two-day action begins in Northern Ireland

Dr Steven Montgomery, who works at The Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, told BBC News NI that the strikes came down to staff retention and pay.

“We’re facing a staffing crisis here in Northern Ireland,” he said. “We’re losing doctors. We’re haemorrhaging them, losing them hand over fist.”

Dr Montgomery, who is a deputy chair of the Northern Ireland junior doctor committee (NIJDC) within the British Medical Association (BMA), said their pay was down 30% since 2006 “if you compare to what we were paid for the same job, the same hours, the same work”.

“We’re not asking for a pay lift, but for our pay to be restored, to be paid the same as what our equivalents got paid in 2008 in real-world terms,” he added.