No 10 calls decision ‘regrettable’ after BMA announces three dates in March and April as medics fight plan to impose contracts

Junior doctors have defied the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, declaring three 48-hour strikes and an intention to seek a judicial review of the government’s plan to impose new contracts on them.

The industrial action, announced by the British Medical Association on Tuesday, represents an escalation of the already bitter and long-running dispute over pay, working hours and patient safety

Dr Johann Malawana, who chairs the BMA’s junior doctor committee, said: “ If the government wants more seven-day services then, quite simply, it needs more doctors, nurses and support staff, and the extra investment necessary to deliver them.

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“Rather than address these issues head on, the government wants to introduce a contract that is unfair and in which junior doctors have no confidence.”

The dates planned for the industrial action, which will not affect emergency care, are 9 March, 6 April and 26 April. All are scheduled to begin at 8am. They follow two 24-hour strikes held this year, which caused thousands of operations to be cancelled.

David Cameron’s official spokeswoman said: “It’s regrettable if they are going to strike again. I’m sure discussions will continue.”

After two months of negotiations between the BMA, NHS Employers and the Department of Health failed to resolve the impasse, Hunt announced his decision to impose a new contract, the day after the second walkout, which took place two weeks ago.



His statement caused huge anger among junior doctors, while NHS employers quickly distanced themselves from the health secretary, saying they supported the terms of the contract but not the imposition of it.

Ministers have imposed the contract on the junior doctors knowing there is a potential for further industrial action and it is understood the Department of Health is prepared for a lengthy standoff with the BMA.

However, they are also convinced that the opposition of junior doctors will start to ebb away once the contract comes into force, arguing that most will see a small rise in pay and an improvement in their working hours. While not denying there is a lot anger among junior doctors at the moment, there is a belief in Whitehall that this will calm down once the doctors have started working with the new arrangements.

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “Further strike action is completely unnecessary and will mean tens of thousands more patients face cancelled operations – over a contract that was 90% agreed with the BMA and which senior NHS leaders including Simon Stevens have endorsed as fair and safe. The new contract will mean an average 13.5% basic pay rise, and will bring down the maximum number of hours doctors can work.



“We urge junior doctors to look at the detail of the contract and the clear benefits it brings.”

The judicial review is based on the fact that the government appears to have failed to carry out an equality impact assessment (EIA), as required under the Equality Act 2010, before its decision to impose a new contract on junior doctors in England, the BMA said.

“This is yet another example of the incompetence which the government has demonstrated throughout its handling of this dispute,” said Malawana.

The contract being imposed makes Saturdays between 7am and 5pm part of a junior doctor’s normal working week for the first time – an issue the BMA refused to negotiate during the talks. Hunt is also extending normal working to 9pm between Monday and Friday.

The BMA wanted to continue with the current system under which trainee medics receive overtime for working after 7pm on weekdays and at any time over the weekend.

Hunt argues that such changes are essential to deliver the government’s pledge of a seven-day NHS, which he says will improve patient care and will tackle higher death rates among weekend admissions. The BMA says the new contract will jeopardise patient care as it will remove safeguards preventing junior doctors from having to work dangerously long hours, and will also adversely affect pay and morale.

In an interview with the Guardian on the day after he announced ing his intentions, Hunt said he believed junior doctors would come to see it as a good deal, arguing that the terms were “substantially closer to what the BMA were asking for”. The junior doctors were angry, he said, because they “are probably the hardest-working people in the NHS, working the most evenings, the most weekends and therefore they feel very stressed”.

Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said: “It is disappointing that the BMA has decided to announce further industrial action despite the majority of the BMA’s concerns being addressed and reflected in the final contract. This disruption to patient care is unnecessary. I strongly believe that the final contract is safe, fair and reasonable. For the sake of the NHS, and patients I urge all junior doctors to take a look at the contract in detail before taking part in any future action.”

The BMA represents 38,000 junior doctors, 98% of whom voted to strike in the November ballot.