Striking doctors on picket line outside St Mary’s, Paddington. Support from passing vehicles and pedestrians was acknowledged with waves and shouted thanks. A model of a peaceful protest with support from their public: us, the users of the NHS. A huge contrast with the blockade by the taxi drivers of Marseille on Mardi Noir last month.
Many outpatients clinics were cancelled so the patient area was uncannily quiet. This is the second strike by junior hospital doctors in protest about major changes to their working hours and contracts. We haven’t experienced doctors strikes since 1975. St Mary’s has been more often in the news as one of the hospitals favoured by the royal family: Princess Charlotte was born here in May 2015, Prince George in July 2013.