JUNIOR doctors belonging to the British Medical Association are urging the government to make a credible pay offer as they begin a three-day strike today in a major escalation of the bitter industrial dispute.

BMA junior doctors’ committee co-chairs Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said: “It is extremely disappointing to be in this position.

“It is now for the Health Secretary [Victoria Atkins] to show true leadership and leave behind the dogma that has been holding talks back —  she needs to be willing to talk to us regardless of whether strikes are scheduled.”

BMA council chairman Prof Philip Banfield said: “Every winter, doctors raise the alarm about the terrible effects of the NHS staffing crisis, only to be met with indifference by Whitehall.”

NHS Providers chief executive Sir Julian Hartley urged ministers and unions to resume talks without any preconditions.

The 72-hour strike in England starts at 7am today and is due to be followed by a six-day strike from January 3, the longest in NHS history.