Junior doctors row: Hunt calls strike plan 'devastating'

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt says plans by junior doctors to hold five consecutive days of strikes this month in hospitals in England will cause misery for patients.

The all-out strikes will take place from 08:00 to 17:00 BST from 12 to 16 September, with more to follow.

The British Medical Association (BMA) said members were opposed to the new contract which was being imposed.

Hospitals are starting to make contingency plans for the strikes.

In May, the royal colleges - which represent the medical profession's leadership - brokered a deal to get both the government and the British Medical Association (BMA) into talks which led to a contract deal, though that was then rejected in July by junior doctors.

The BMA says members felt the contract did not do enough to reward those who work the most weekends and was unfair on part-time workers, and there was strong opposition to the fact it was being forced on them.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the strike plan was "devastating news".

• Junior doctors' row: The basics of the dispute
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Mr Hunt told BBC Breakfast he was not responsible for failed negotiations, saying he had "bent over backwards" to resolve the dispute - making 107 concessions.

The strikes would cause "absolute misery" for patients, with about 100,000 operations cancelled and one million hospital appointments postponed, he added.

"I want to talk, I want to sit round the table, I want to sort out all outstanding issues," he said.

"I think junior doctors work incredibly hard, they work a lot of nights, a lot of weekends, some of the hardest-working people in the NHS.

"And we want to resolve this through co-operation, but you can't have constructive discussions with an atmosphere of trust when people have decided to unleash the most devastating doctors' strike in NHS history."

Mr Hunt said he was prepared to talk further with the BMA - but only if they called off the planned strikes.

'Serious impact'

But Dr Mark Porter, chairman of the BMA council, blamed the "continued reluctance" of Mr Hunt to do "anything other than impose a contract on junior doctors".

He said the BMA council was united behind junior doctors, but would not be drawn on whether the council only voted in favour of the latest strikes by a majority of 16 votes to 14.He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The reason this dispute has become protracted is not because anybody on our side wanted it to be protracted, it's because the single unifying thread throughout every part of this dispute has been the insistence of the government on moving ahead without agreement."

It comes as confidential papers drawn up by the BMA have suggested there could be five days of strikes each month for the rest of the year, the BBC understands.

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts, said the strikes would have "a very serious impact on a very large number of patients".

He said hospitals had only been given 12 days' notice, "which is much less than we've ever had before".He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The reason this dispute has become protracted is not because anybody on our side wanted it to be protracted, it's because the single unifying thread throughout every part of this dispute has been the insistence of the government on moving ahead without agreement."

It comes as confidential papers drawn up by the BMA have suggested there could be five days of strikes each month for the rest of the year, the BBC understands.

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts, said the strikes would have "a very serious impact on a very large number of patients".

He said hospitals had only been given 12 days' notice, "which is much less than we've ever had before".This time hospital managers have had a lot less notice than they did when junior doctors in England last staged walkouts in April.

They will have to postpone thousands of routine operations and plan rotas to allow consultants to cover their striking junior colleagues in emergency care.

And the latest round of walkouts will take place on five consecutive days rather than two, which will make it the longest such action in the history of the NHS.

With winter approaching, NHS finances under pressure and patient care targets being missed, there is growing frustration across the service that the dispute is not resolved and more disruption is on the way.

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Junior doctors have already taken part in six days of strikes this year, including two all-out stoppages.

Industrial action was put on hold in May when the two sides got back round the table at conciliation service Acas.

That resulted in a new contract being agreed, which BMA leaders encouraged members to accept.

But when it was put to the vote, 58% of medics rejected it, prompting the resignation of the BMA junior doctor leader Johann Malawana, and ministers to once again announce they would impose the new terms and conditions.

• Basic pay to rise between 10% and 11% on average
• System of supplements paid which are determined by how many weekends - those working one in two will get 10% on top of basic salary
• Nights to attract an enhanced rate of 37% above normal time
• Replaces old system whereby any weekend or night work attracts extra pay of between 20% to 100% more than normal time
• First doctors to go on new terms in October with much of the rest of the workforce to follow by next summer

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A new junior doctor leader, Dr Ellen McCourt, was appointed and, in August, the committee she leads called for the union's leaders to sanction fresh strikes.

She told BBC Breakfast the new contract "is not good for our patients" and risked losing doctors from the profession.

"We're devastated that the government has not listened to junior doctors," she said.

"They've not listened to the rejection of the contract and we've been left with no other choice than to take further industrial action."

Dr McCourt said the contract, which will start being rolled out in October, "fails to treat all doctors fairly".

"This contract will be in place for many years, it will have a direct impact on patient care and whether we can attract and keep enough doctors in the NHS."Shadow health secretary Diane Abbott said Jeremy Hunt had "pushed" junior doctors into further strikes through his "total mishandling of this dispute".

Ms Abbott told BBC News it was "not too late" for the health secretary to "stop his idea of imposing a contract" and implored him to "get back into talks".

A Department of Health spokesman said: "As doctors' representatives, the BMA should be putting patients first not playing politics in a way that will be immensely damaging for vulnerable patients.

"What's more, the BMA must be the first union in history to call for strike action against a deal they themselves negotiated and said was a good one."