Junior doctors are threatening to strike over Government plans to enforce a contract demanding 'dangerous working hours' and pay cuts.

Nearly 35,000 doctors signed a petition against the new contract which would see junior staff lose the right to out-of-hours pay for Saturdays and weekday evenings.

The British Medical Association rejected the proposal and refused to return to negotiations with NHS Employers, which represents the Government.

The employers's body plans to meet junior doctors over the next two months.

Working hard: Nearly 35,000 doctors signed a petition against the new contract which would see junior staff lose the right to out-of-hours pay for Saturdays and weekday evenings [file image]

Dr Kitty Mohan, of the BMA's Junior Doctors Committee, told The Independent that junior staff felt 'palpable anger and frustration' and that hundreds had contacted the BMA to express their outrage over the past 48 hours.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has called for doctors' 'support in delivering better access, seven days a week, for everyone'

Dr Mohan said the committee would meet next week and 'take into account' widespread support for industrial action.

She added: 'The terms of what we were being asked to discuss were not acceptable.

'We were being asked to tinker around the edges of a contract that is already being imposed on us. We will do everything we possibly can in order to resist imposition … up to and including industrial action.'

The plans include a change to the standard working day, from 7am-7pm Monday to Friday, to 7am-10pm Monday to Saturday, cutting out-of-hours extra pay. This month the Mail revealed that patients who have a heart attack are up to 20 per cent more likely to die if admitted to an NHS hospital at the weekend.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has called for doctors' 'support in delivering better access, seven days a week, for everyone'.

Some pay deals which enforce a higher salary for doctors who work beyond ordinary contracted hours are also at risk. The Government points out that doctors will still be protected by the European Working Time directive.

But the union has said the contracts could contribute to pay cuts of between 15 and 30 per cent, and that overworked and underpaid doctors could put patients' safety in danger.

The Department of Health said the contract 'puts patients first' and 'increases basic pay'.