He said: “The proposed action is extreme in its scale and timing and shows scant regard for patients, nor to their colleagues who will have to work under even greater pressure when this industrial action goes ahead”.
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Dr Mark Porter, chairman of the BMA council, refused to reveal the outcome of a vote on strikes amid claims it was as close as a 16-14 outcome.
And there are suggestions the five-day strikes could be called every month if the dispute is not resolved.
“And I will not engage with you in talking about the long and hard debates that we had inside council over what the best thing to do was”.
The first in a series of all-out strikes is set to take place from 8am to 5pm from September 12 to 16.
“Today we reiterate our call for the United Kingdom government, through the prime minister, to recognise the enormity of this situation and take action to bring all parties back together to facilitate a solution and avoid further strike action”, they said.
Around 100,000 operations and one million appointments would be hit by the action, Mr Hunt said, describing the strike as “devastating”. However, junior doctors and medical students voted in July to reject the deal, against the advice of their BMA representatives.
Despite the BMA recommending acceptance, the deal was rejected by junior doctors in a ballot by 58% to 42%.
In May it looked as though a breakthrough had been reached in the dispute after both sides agreed to a new deal.
“I therefore repeat my call to the Government to agree to an urgent cross-party process aimed at achieving a new settlement for the NHS and care”.
The BMA said concerns focus on the impact the contract will have on part-time workers and those who work the most weekends.
The action was approved by the British Medical Association (BMA) Council this afternoon following a meeting earlier this month with the junior doctors committee (JDC).
“We have a simple ask of the government: stop the imposition”, she said.
He felt the junior doctors were in a bind, because if the strikes were carried out with the minimum harm and disruption to patients, as is always promised, they will have little impact.
There are some 55,000 junior doctors in England, about a third of the medical workforce.
The BMA said it will call off the strikes if the governement refrains from imposing the contract.
The mounting anger came as it emerged the BMA itself was said to be deeply divided over the decision to strike.
The concerns of junior doctors regarding the 7-day NHS have been intensified following the closure of A&E departments and the limiting of services at hospitals in Chorely, Grantham and Stafford due to staff shortages.
He replied: “Health Secretary is never the most popular job in British politics because people are passionate about the NHS”.
Following the announcement, Jeremy Hunt announced he would impose the new contract from October in a phased introduction.
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Referring to the BMA’s actions of previously recommending the new junior doctors’ contract to its members and now supporting further strikes, he said: “It isn’t clear what this strike action is for and what the position of the BMA is now…” She insisted the contracts were safe for patients, while the NHS was enjoying record levels of funding. The Department of Health accused the BMA of putting confrontation before cooperation in order to score political points.
