The strike will take place between 8am and 5pm for five days from Monday, September 12, according to the British Medical Association.
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The strike action is due to take place from September 12 to 16 with more walkouts planned in the future.
The government has said that a new contract is needed to deliver more seven-day services when the department of health’s own documents show that the NHS does not have a plan as to how it will staff or fund further seven-day services.
“We believe that progress was made during talks in May, so we are calling for the government to lift the imposition and restart meaningful talks to agree a contract that is adequately funded, fit for objective, delivers for patients and has the confidence of the profession”.
British Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt on Thursday condemned as “totally irresponsible” a plan by junior doctors in England to hold a five-day strike after the industry’s trade union escalated a long-running dispute with the government.
The strike will have an enormous impact on health services, with an estimated “30,000 operations and a quarter of a million out-patient appointments” needing to be cancelled, says the Daily Telegraph.
The new contract is expected to be introduced in October, against a backdrop of opposition from junior doctors in England, including many who work for the NHS trust which runs King George Hospital and Queen’s Hospital.
“We should not lose sight of the underlying reason for this dispute, namely this government’s determination to be the first country in the world to offer a proper patient-focused 7 day health service”.
Despite this, the government is refusing to acknowledge junior doctors’ concerns and is continuing with plans to impose the contract in October.
Keith Taylor, a Green MEP for the South East, accused Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt of “incompetence” and pledged to “stand in solidarity” with junior doctors.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health 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”.
He said he can not understand why action has been called so suddenly when the BMA said it was the best deal on offer.
In May, it looked as though a breakthrough had been reached in the dispute after both sides agreed to a new deal.
Chief executive Katherine Murphy said: “This is a devastating blow to patients, and a destructive next step as far as any kind of negotiations go”.
“All affected patients will be contacted directly and given a new appointment date at the next available opportunity”.
Newly elected co-leaders of the Green Party, Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley, told the BBC they supported the strike and would take part in picket line protests during the looming dispute.
The Patients Association said the decision to strike had triggered “apprehension” among the public.
He added: “The first priority must be to protect patients from harm”.
“Forcing a contract on junior doctors in which they don’t have confidence, that they don’t feel is good for patients or themselves, is not something they can accept”, McCourt wrote in a letter to members earlier this year.
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Speaking to Sky News, Hunt said: “Patients will be asking why it is that the BMA, who only in May said “this deal is a good deal for doctors, a good deal for patients, it’s good for the NHS, it’s good for equality”, are now saying it is such a bad deal that they want to inflict the worst doctors’ strike in NHS history”.
