UK doctors call off strike action

The British Medical Association (BMA) had planned a full withdrawal of labor by junior doctors on Oct. 5-7 and 10-11, Nov. 14-18 and Dec. 5-9, which would have been the longest stoppages in the nearly 70-year history of the National Health Service. Junior doctors - a term covering recent medical school graduates right through to doctors who have been working for well over a decade - have staged a series of walkouts over a new work contract the government plans to impose next month. The BMA said its decision to suspend the action follows feedback from doctors, patients and the public, and discussions with NHS England about the ability of the NHS to maintain a safe service if industrial action were to go ahead.