GMB’s Richard Madeley was taken down over striking doctors.
Dr Anita Raja has been praised for dismanlting the presenter’s argument with clear facts.
It comes as doctors’ leaders have held discussions with the conciliation service Acas amid the bitter row over pay between junior medics and the Government.
Acas said it is “well prepared and ready to help” after the British Medical Association (BMA) said “we do need someone to start brokering realistic talks”.
The BMA urged ministers to get round the table to try to break the deadlock between the parties as junior doctors entered a second day of strike action.
Very-fragile
Prof Sir Stephen Powis, the national medical director of NHS England, said “cover is very fragile.”
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Our advice to the public is to think carefully because we will be seeing a lot of disruption over the next four days.
“We are … working very hard to ensure those emergency services are kept safe, that is our priority, but I’ve also got no doubt that that cover is very fragile, so we are relying on consultants and other staff to cover the work that junior doctors usually do.
“Junior doctors are a significant part of our medical workforce – up to 40 to 50% of our medical staff – and so that cover is stretched thin in places, so it could be affected by sickness, by absence for other reasons.
“So we will endeavour to keep patients safe, particularly in those emergency services but that is becoming harder every time we have this strike action.”
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