UK health secretary to impose contract on junior doctors

The row centres around Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s plans to impose a new contract on junior doctors as part of plans to create more 24/7 services.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt wants junior doctors’ working patterns to become more flexible in order to deliver the “seven-day NHS” the Conservatives promised in the general election.

A spokesperson for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust said: “The trust has followed guidelines from NHS Employers and the British Medical Association, to ensure we are safely providing the right level of care to our patients”.

An estimated 2,000 junior doctors in the Thames Valley will be manning the picket lines, and about 50 are gathered at the entrance to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital as part of the 24-hour walkout.

Jennifer Redfern, 25, junior doctor and BMA representative for East Lancashire Hospital Trust, said: “We need the government to consider how this will affect us”.

Hunt said he would be “proceeding with the introduction of a new contract” seen as “safer for patients and fair and reasonable for junior doctors” on the recommendation of the chief of the government’s negotiating team.

The strikes are the result of a bitter contract dispute over pay and working conditions between the government and the British Medical Association.

A demonstration is being held outside Gloucestershire Royal Hospital this evening to protest against the government’s decision to impose new contracts on junior doctors.

“Does he not realise that this decision could lead to a protracted period of industrial action which will be distressing for everyone – patients, doctors, everyone who works in or depends upon the NHS?”

Mr Hunt told the BBC the BMA was the “only reason” talks broke down.

In a statement, he said: “Junior doctors already work around the clock, 7 days a week and they do so under their existing contract”.

“We have now agreed the vast majority of the contract detail with the BMA but it’s a great shame that they have broken the agreement we made with ACAS to discuss the outstanding issue of Saturday working and pay for unsocial hours”.

The third related to public support, with the junior doctor urging people to “speak up and support their own NHS if they still believe in it”.

Junior doctors covering urgent and emergency care have again been asked not to strike.

In response, Dr Malawana said in a letter to Mr Hunt on Wednesday that the BMA “deeply regret” the dispute and urged him to accept their suggestion to reallocate some of the proposed 11% rise in basic pay for unsocial hours payments.