Junior doctors have called off the second of their planned series of three strikes, which was set to seriously disrupt hospital services across England next week just as winter pressures on the NHS are building up.

The British Medical Association, which represents 38,000 of England’s 45,000 junior doctors, said it had decided to suspend plans for a 48-hour walkout scheduled to start next Tuesday, 26 January, at 8am.



Some in the BMA see it as a goodwill gesture to try and give the union, NHS Employers and the Department of Health another chance to resolve the long-running dispute via continuing talks under the auspices of Acas.

All sides are becoming increasingly optimistic that a peace deal can be agreed, possibly this week.



However, a key member of the BMA’s junior doctors committee (JDC) said: “This isn’t peace in our time. It’s just a postponement of war.”



The junior doctors’ third planned stoppage – an all-out strike on 10 February – could still happen but an end to the row over the terms and conditions of junior doctors’ new contracts starting this August is now looking much more likely.



Dr Johann Malawana, the chair of the JDC, said: “The BMA’s aim has always been to deliver a safe, fair junior doctor contract through negotiated agreement. Following junior doctors’ clear message to the government during last week’s action, our focus is now on building on early progress made in the current set of talks.

“On this basis, the BMA has today taken the decision to suspend the industrial action planned for 26-28 January, thereby giving trusts as much notice as possible so as to avoid disruption to patients.

“It is important to be clear, however, that differences still exist between the BMA and the government on key areas, including the protection of patient safety and doctors’ working lives, and the recognition of unsocial hours. Significant, concrete progress will need to be made if future action, currently planned for 10 February, is to be averted.”

The Department of Health welcomed the suspension. “The strike that took place last week was unnecessary while talks are ongoing, so it’s extremely welcome news that the BMA has suspended next week’s action, though as it stands emergency care will still be withdrawn in February. In the end, the government and junior doctors want to do the same thing by improving patient care at weekends – and we look forward to further constructive discussions”, a spokeswoman said.



The BMA’s decision to suspend next week’s industrial action came after David Cameron on Monday repeated the threat to impose a new contract on junior doctors without their consent, arguing that they could not be allowed to “block progress in our NHS”.

His position echoed that of the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, who said last week that the contract could be imposed as a last resort but he would prefer to come to a negotiated settlement.

The prime minister told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We can’t rule that [imposition] out because we can’t simply go into a situation where the junior doctors have a complete veto block over progress in our NHS.

“But we’re talking to them in very good faith, I think we’ve settled 15 of the 16 issues that they raised, there’s an 11% basic pay rise on the table … and, for instance, we’ve just put on the table the idea no one should be asked to work two Saturdays in a row.

“I don’t want this strike situation to continue. What I want is what I put in our manifesto, which is a more seven-day NHS for which we do need some contract changes.”



One of the main obstacles to a resolution centres on how much of the week should be classed as a junior doctor’s normal working hours, and thus attract only basic pay. Currently, junior doctors – anyone below the level of consultant – are paid extra for working after 7pm on a weekday and at any point over the weekend. Under Hunt’s contract extra pay would not apply until after 10pm on weekdays and after 7pm on Saturdays.

He has proposed an 11% rise in basic pay to compensate for this loss of overtime, but the BMA says junior doctors would still be up to 30% worse off.