LONDON, June 21 (UPI) -- British doctors began a job action Thursday to protest changes to the pension system.
The British Medical Association said no emergency cases would go untreated, The Guardian reported. But doctors participating in the strike would turn away patients with routine problems.
Doctors in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are participating.
The government predicted that 30,000 operations could be delayed and 1.25 million appointments with primary care physicians postponed. The job action is the first by doctors in Britain in 40 years.
"I don't have any hard numbers but in some places it will be very disruptive and in other places it will be very minimal," Dean Royles, director of NHS Employers, said.
The Daily Telegraph said its own survey found two-thirds of surgeries -- groups of doctors in general practice -- said they expected business as usual. Most hospitals predicted there would be little disruption.
The newspaper said support for the job action among doctors appeared to have fallen because of the public reaction to the strike. Prime Minister David Cameron suggested doctors, who are mostly public employees in Britain, have pensions other people can "only dream of."
Under the government's plan, doctors would have to work to 68 and make larger contributions to their plans.
