Doctors in England begin a 3-day strike over pay at busy time of the year in National Health Service

Doctors in the early stages of their careers in England have started a 72-hour strike in their long-running dispute over pay levels

LONDON -- Doctors in the early stages of their careers in England started a 72-hour strike Wednesday in their long-running dispute with the British government over pay levels.

Patients in Britain's state-owned National Health Service have been warned that there will be “significant disruption," with thousands of appointments and procedures postponed or even canceled. The strike began at 7 a.m. and will run until Saturday morning.

Tens of thousands of so-called junior doctors, which make up around half of the medical workforce in the NHS, will also go on strike for a six-day stretch early next year, the longest walkout in the health service's 75-year history.

They are seeking a 35% pay rise, a figure they say takes into account years of below-inflation rises and will prevent an exodus of staff to other countries. The government though is offering junior doctors an average increase of 8.8% and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has indicated there won't be more on offer.

“I obviously appreciate that people are upset about missing elective appointments and outpatient appointments, but if we don’t act now then five or 10 years down the line there won’t be any doctors left and those appointments will become much worse and much longer than they are,” said 30-year-old Hamish Bain on a picket line at University College Hospital in London.