Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s plans to impose a “dangerous” new contract on junior doctors in the NHS was today branded a “tragedy”.
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It is believed the BMA put offered a proposal during talks that would have seen doctors’ basic pay rise by half the 11 per cent offered by the government in return for Saturday not be treated as a normal working day.
A petition calling for a vote of no confidence in Jeremy Hunt for the way he handled the junior doctors row attracted more than 200,000 signatories six months ago, and the imposition of this new contract after failing to find a compromise will likely draw further public condemnation.
He said the contracts are created to improve hospital care at weekends, claiming standards are “too low” at the weekend, with more patients dying on Saturdays and Sundays than during the week.
Junior doctors walked out on strike yesterday for the second time since January, with more than 100 protesting the proposed new contract outside the John Radcliffe Hospital.
They warned the new contracts would force many doctors out of the profession and cause a recruitment crisis in the NHS.
“Junior doctors already work around the clock, seven 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”.
Dr Johann Malawana, the BMA’s junior doctor committee chairman, said: “The decision to impose a contract is a sign of total failure on the Government’s part”.
Currently, junior doctors are paid a higher rate for hours worked between 7pm and 7am Monday to Friday and for weekend work.
Hunt told the House of Commons on Thursday that last minute negotiations with the British Medical Association (BMA) had collapsed.
“Patients suffer when governments drag their feet on high hospital mortality rates, and this government is determined our NHS should offer the safest, highest quality care in the world”, Hunt said. Doctors and other NHS staff repeatedly “go the extra mile” for patients by working well beyond their contracted hours of work.
Shadow health secretary Heidi Alexander, said: “Today’s industrial action is deeply disappointing, particularly for the patients who have had hospital treatment delayed because of it”. The NHS needs certainty on this contract and a continuation of a dispute would be harmful to patients, and the NHS.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt insisted junior doctors were being offered “a fair deal”.
He said: “A huge amount of work on both sides has gone into these negotiations, and I understand fully the strong feelings of junior doctors and the challenges faced by all parties over the years in trying to reach a resolution”.
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Claire Murdoch, head of the Central and North West London NHS FT, said she was not even aware that her name was on the letter until it was published, and immediately asked for it to be removed.
