Consultant doctors and hospital-based dentists have walked out in a dispute over pay.

This is the first time since 2012 that consultants have staged strike action.

Emergency care is still to be provided.

Junior doctors held a five-day walkout earlier this week.

NHS national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: “This could undoubtedly be the most severe impact we have ever seen in the NHS as a result of industrial action, with routine care virtually at a standstill for 48 hours.

“Consultants will not only stop seeing patients themselves, but they won’t be around to provide supervision over the work of junior doctors, which impacts thousands of appointments for patients.

“It also follows on very closely from the longest ever junior doctors strike, which itself affected thousands of appointments, with back-to-back action leaving NHS services with almost no time to recover.

“We are working closely with the BMA and BDA to ensure that emergency and urgent care is prioritised and patients remain safe, but in the eighth month of industrial action, and with more than 600,000 appointments already affected, it’s becoming even more challenging to get services back on track after each round of action.”