Junior doctors from Royal Bolton Hospital are striking as they campaign for better pay. 

It comes as part of national British Medical Association (BMA) strikes by junior doctors. 

They walked out at 7am on December 20 and will return on December 23. 

Royal Bolton Hospital junior doctor Joseph Williams is taking part in the strike. 

He said: "Junior doctors are striking again as the government has still not presented us with an acceptable deal.

"The offer they have made would be less than inflation for a large proportion of junior doctors - in other words, a real terms pay cut.

"We are not willing to accept a deal that results in a pay cut for any junior doctors - that is why we’re striking again. 

"We will happily negotiate with the government at any time, if they make a worthwhile offer that leads towards restoration of our years of lost pay." 

He added: "There’s no denying that the NHS is under huge pressure, this and every winter. This could be avoided if the government was willing to invest in paying and retaining doctors and nurses, by paying them appropriately.

"I care very deeply about looking after patients - but there’s no pathway to fixing the situation without paying healthcare staff a wage to match their skills. Patients are being safely looked after during the strikes by our consultant colleagues.

"We will gladly return to work anytime the government makes a worthwhile pay deal that fixes pay erosion for all junior doctors." 

This comes after Health Secretary Victoria Atkins told the BBC this morning that an improved offer on pay and conditions for junior doctors could be on the table if they call off strikes. 

She said: “Please come back round the table, call off the strikes and then we can see how much further we can go.

“It’s not just about pay, of course this is really important and indeed this year alone, junior doctors have already had a pay rise of around 8.8%, the most-junior of doctors, the first and second year of doctors, they’ve had the highest pay rises within the range up to 10.3% because we understand as a Government, we’ve heard what the doctors are saying to us.

“But I also want to do more than that, I don’t just want to look at pay, I also want to look at their conditions because when I walk around hospitals, when I talk to doctors, they tell me one of the things they want to feel is valued. And I absolutely understand that and I want to work with them to enable that to happen. ”