Doctors in the United Kingdom have started a strike aimed at expressing their opposition to the propsoed pension reforms by the government.

They have decided not to provide non-essential service to the patients across the UK. The British Medical Association said that the decision to take industrial action, which is the first in almost 40 years, was not taken lightly. A majority of doctors had voted in favor of action in a BMA conducted poll over pension changes.

The doctors will stop regular medical care and only cater to the emergency cases over a dispute over changes to their pension plans proposed by the government. The doctors in the UK are warning of an industrial action to protest after they voted overwhelmingly in May 2011 against changes proposed by the government to their pension plans. The doctors have now ruled out a strike but said that they would only treat the most seriously ill patients over a given 24-hour period.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has urged the doctors not to take part in the industrial action today. He said that the doctors should not take part in the pointless strike as it will achieve nothing.

The members of the British Medical Association (BMA) voted overwhelmingly against the government's plans in a poll organized by the association to take a decision on the proposed changes. As many as 84 per cent of the BMA members opposed changes being put forward by the UK government.