WORKING in the austerity-hit NHS resembles “battlefield conditions,” striking junior doctors warned today as they urged Tory ministers to get round the negotiating table.

Conciliation service Acas said it is “well prepared and ready to help” after the British Medical Association (BMA) called for “someone to start brokering realistic talks” amid a four-day walkout.

The union, which launched its latest industrial action on Monday, repeated demands for a restorative pay award to make up for a whopping 26 per cent cut in take-home wages for the highly qualified workforce since 2008-9.