Junior doctors, who have walked out on strike demanding a 35% pay increase, have accused the health secretary of not taking them seriously.

Sam Taylor-Smith, a junior doctor and British Medical Association (BMA) rep in Bristol, said he was disappointed by Steve Barclay's response to the strike.

Mr Barclay said the industrial action, taken by junior doctors across the West and the rest of England, "hampers serious talks over pay".

The action is due to last four days.

Dr Taylor-Smith, 27, led a group of around 30 junior doctors outside Southmead Hospital, criticising Mr Barclay in a chant, saying: "There was a man named Steve, he cause the doctors a lot of grief, he refused our meeting, then took to late night tweeting."

Dr Taylor-Smith said they wrote to Mr Barclay on 31 March "asking for a reopening of negotiations and asking him to take us seriously and offer us a serious pay offer".

"He waited five or six days to respond to that letter, so that doesn't strike me as a man who is concerned about averting a strike at all possible costs," he said.

Dr Taylor-Smith said they had told Mr Barclay that if he gave them something they would call off the strikes for the rest of the four days, "but it doesn't look like he wants to do that".

Nima Maleki, 28, an emergency medicine trainee at Southmead, said under-resourcing had left him "ashamed" of the care patients receive at times.

"I'm seeing people not getting the care they should be. Over the winter period I was ashamed of the care that I was giving to patients in A&E.

"But often I was being asked to do the job of two or three junior doctors and it makes it impossible for you to do your best for people."

'Not a pay rise'

Dr Maliki said he felt worried "on a personal level" for his family if they have to see healthcare professionals in case they are "not seen in an appropriate amount of time".

He said what junior doctors are asking for is "not a pay rise, we're asking for our pay to be restored back to what it was in 2008 to 2009.

"It's the same job but actually we're working so much harder while being paid in real terms a lot less."

NHS trusts have warned over the four days of action, thousands of operations will be cancelled.

During previous strike action last month, 175,000 appointments and procedures were cancelled in England.

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