Hundreds of nurses, midwives and ambulance staff across west London and the rest of the country went on-strike this morning over pay.

Members of six trade unions - which also included therapists, cooks, cleaners, healthcare assistants and admin staff - took part from 7am to 11am at all hospitals in west and north west London .

Services were affected but most NHS Trusts reported little disruption and emergency care was kept running to ensure the public were kept safe during the four-hour walk out.

Military personnel across London and police were put on stand-by to help emergency services if needed but it is not clear yet whether they had to be drafted in.

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Nearly 200 staff were reported to be at the picket line outside Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, including midwives from its popular maternity unit.

This was the first time in history the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has been on-strike and the first time in 30 years other NHS staff have taken action over pay.

The Royal College of Midwives said in advance services for women giving birth were going to be unaffected but antenatal and postnatal care would be.

At both Hammersmith Hospital, where the A&E has just closed down , and Charing Cross Hospital, which is to be shrunk down , picket lines were strong but their governing body, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust said: “The strike is having next to no impact on our services.”

A spokesperson speaking before the strikes said the trust was maintaining its normal activity during the industrial action to ensure no cancellation of elective treatment for patients.

“The Trust and its local trade unions are working in partnership to ensure that critical, emergency and in-patient services are not affected. “We are running a normal weekday service. Emergency, urgent and in-patient care is unaffected and patients should attend their appointments as normal.”

London North West Healthcare NHS Trust said they only had 20 staff striking at their three locations, Central Middlesex, Ealing and Northwick Park and St Mark's Hospitals.

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Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the RCM, said: “Our dispute is not with the women for whom midwives care, it is with employers telling midwives they are not worth a one per cent pay rise.”

All those taking part in this morning’s strikes will take further action from tomorrow (October 14) for the rest of the week by not working any unpaid overtime and taking all breaks which they are entitled to.

Members took part from unions: Unison, Unite, GMB, UCATT, RCM and the British Association of Occupational Therapists.

Doctors and dentists were not involved.