Medical staff are tweeting pictures of themselves with the hashtag #NHSworkingXmas to prove they are working at Christmas.
Happy Christmas everyone from a generic A+E staff room (with Xmas tree)! Jealous of you! Have fun! #NHSworkingXmas
Earlier this year, doctors posted similar pictures of themselves working weekends to prove that they work every day after health secretary Jeremy Hunt said that we need to work towards a 7-day-a-week NHS service.
The #NHSworkingXmas hashtag aims to further prove that a "Monday to Friday" in the NHS culture that Hunt spoke of in a speech in July does not exist.
#NHSworkingXmas Our daughter Kelly Tierney at 6 am this morning going in for her 12 hr shift at Good Hope Hospital
"The claim that the 7-day NHS doesn’t exist is something that a lot of us find insulting or offensive," junior doctor Mei Nortley, who organised the hashtag #ImInWorkforXmasJeremy, also being used, told BuzzFeed News.
Staff from Head and Neck are providing excellent elf-care this Christmas Eve #NHSworkingXmas
"I'm working on New Year's Day," she added. "Most NHS staff will end up doing either Christmas day or New Year’s day – it’s just the way it works."
Working 6/7 days Xmas week, 5 x 12 hour shifts, 1 x 8 hour shift #NHSworkingXmas @Jeremy_Hunt @DavidCameron_MP
Earlier this month, industrial action over changes to the junior doctors contract, which Hunt has said would help create a more 7-day NHS were halted after the health secretary agreed to re-enter negotiations with the British Medical Association.
Mei said that even though the three strikes that had been planned to take place in December didn't go ahead, there was still a strong feeling in the NHS that staff wanted to make a stand.
Just taking handover from day reg. Apparently it was a rough shift #NHSworkingXmas #ImInWorkJeremy @wearyournhs
"We are starting from an understaffed level, and you’re asking NHS staff members to up their game to increase to a 7-day NHS when we already work seven days," Nortley said.
@butNHS #NHSworkingXmas Alan our volunteer will be working on 🎅 day and having dinner with us @FabNHSStuff
"I think campaigns like this reflect the feeling out there and just show that the government so completely out of touch," she added.
We're in work Jeremy #iminworkjeremy #nhs #taempaeds
On Thursday, chair of the BMA's Junior Doctors committee Dr Johann Malawana wrote in a message to doctors on Facebook that while talks with the department of health and independent negotiating body ACAS had been going well, "there are still a couple of absolute areas of disagreement."
Pleasure to work with awesome team this Xmas. Hope all NHS staff have a good one! #ImInWorkJeremy #NHSworkingXmas
He added: "It is therefore absolutely clear that should we not be able to reach an acceptable outcome by 4pm on 4th January, the BMA will need to commence serving notice as per its mandate, to the NHS, for industrial action the following week."