Health Secretary to impose contract on junior doctors

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced in the House of Commons today the new terms will be imposed by August 1, claiming the union representing doctors, the British Medical Association (BMA), had refused “point blank to discuss reforms, instead choosing to ballot for industrial action”.

The health secretary Jeremy Hunt will impose a controversial new contract on junior doctors who went on strike yesterday.

Junior doctors picketed Epsom and St Helier Hospitals between 8am this morning, and will be there until 8am tomorrow.

Johann Malawana, chairman of the BMA’s junior doctor committee, said they “cannot and will not” accept the contract and would “consider all options open to us”.

It was due to hold a full walkout today but following talks with the government, junior doctors providing emergency cover are not part of the action.

Professor Joe Harrison, the chief executive of Milton Keynes Hospital, has admitted he feels the imposed contract on junior doctors is “deeply regrettable”.

The Health Secretary said the strike process had created “considerable dismay” among junior doctors but he felt that given time, the contract would be accepted as a good thing.

The industrial action is being taken over a new contract proposed by Mr Hunt which would re-define anti-social hours and make it cheaper for hospitals to roster doctors on weekends and evenings.

Sir David also said the fines levied on trusts for over-working doctors would be increased, while the extra pay medics got for very long hours would be increased.

The move came just a few hours after the latest 24-hour strike by junior doctors in Coventry, Warwickshire and around the country came to an end.

It is unclear whether the BMA will now stage further strikes in protest at the new contract.

The offer was made on Tuesday evening, on the eve of the strike, and rejected by the BMA on Wednesday afternoon when the walk-out was in full swing.

He said: “A huge amount of work on both sides has gone into these negotiations, and I understand fully the strong feelings of junior doctors and the challenges faced by all parties over the years in trying to reach a resolution”.

There are more than 50,000 junior doctors in England, making up a third of the medical workforce.

The head of NHS England Simon Stevens has said that his organisation is “right” to force a change in contracts on junior doctors.