A spokesman for the Academy said: “Five days of strike action, particularly at such short notice, will cause real problems for patients, the service and the profession”.
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“To then turn around and say we need to deprive patients of live-saving care is astonishing hypocrisy”.
In readiness, hospital trusts in the region are working to mitigate the effect of the first five days of strike action which Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has claimed will cause the cancellation of 100,000 operations and postponement of one million hospital appointments nationwide.
Bob Brown, South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust’s executive director of nursing and patient safety, has said that outpatient clinics and planned operations for the period in question are being reviewed to decide on measures to be taken to minimise disruption. But 58% of their junior doctors rejected the fresh agreement.
Junior doctors will stage a full withdrawal of labour for five days each time over four weeks: between 8am and 5pm from 12-16 September; 5, 6 and 7 October (weekend covered) and then 10-11 October; 14-18 November; and 5-9 December.
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges also released a surprise statement criticising the decision to strike again.
A new five-day strike by junior doctors has been condemned by leading professional bodies, who warned it will make pressures on the NHS worse.
“Firstly, the junior doctors are wanting to protect themselves and secondly, it’s about the NHS and wider financial pressures it faces”.
“Our board and the trusts we represent are therefore formally calling on the BMA to reconsider their proposed strikes for the sake of patients”.
Reports suggest the latest raft of disruption was not fully backed by BMA members, with the Daily Mail reporting that a leaked ballot showed just 31.5% of members supported a full walkout which was time-limited.
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”.
She added: “It’s a very, very disturbing and worrying time for any patient”.
“The public have the greatest sympathy for the medical profession and understand the hard job that they do, but this may take a step too far and could erode the public confidence and trust”.
When asked to choose whether they support or oppose the strikes due to take place from 12 to 16 September, 57% of Britons said they support junior doctors, while 43% oppose them.
In May it looked as though a breakthrough had been reached in the dispute after both sides agreed to a new deal.
A Whitehall source told the Sun: “It’s staggering to hear the junior doctors’ chief praising this contract one month and urging doctors to withdraw life-saving care over it the next”.
“As doctors’ representatives, the BMA should be putting patients first, not playing politics in a way that will be immensely damaging for vulnerable patients”.
It is a national dispute which relates to the Government’s proposals to introduce a new junior doctors’ contract, and is not directed at individual hospitals.
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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.
