“However, given the now nearly inevitability that the action will need to proceed, I wanted to provide you with as full information as possible about our preparations for the actions and how it may affect each of you”.
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Bosses at Leicester’s hospitals have already cancelled some appointments and operations but added there are no plans for army staff to be brought in.
The day of action, by members of the British Medical Association (BMA), will be followed by two other planned walk outs, on both December 8 and December 16. The last time they took industrial action was in 2012 over NHS pensions, but care was only slightly disrupted.
The talks, at conciliation service Acas, appear to have led to an outline agreement being reached.
“But removing the threat of imposition is something that has not been agreed in any other part of the NHS or any other part of the public sector because the Government has to balance the needs of patients, doctors and taxpayers”.
The basis for fresh negotiations is the government’s offer from early November, including an 11 per cent rise in basic pay for junior doctors.
This is offset by plans to cut the number of hours on a weekend that junior doctors can claim extra pay for “unsocial” hours.
Medics say this would effectively be a pay cut of up to 30% because evenings and Saturdays are usually paid at a higher rate.
While a pledge has been made to protect take-home pay up till 2019, many fear the long-term impact will be junior doctors working longer hours, for less money. Flexible pay premiums would also be applied to more specialities than just general practice and A&E care, with acute medical ward staff and psychiatrists benefiting.
Downing Street confirmed Mr Hunt will update Parliament on the situation in an oral statement to the House of Commons.
In official guidance on industrial action issued by the British Medical Association (BMA), it said it expects medics from the Armed Forces will be used, in some cases, to help plug the gap on strike days.
Dr Barbara Hakin, national director of commissioning operations at NHS England, said: “We’re very pleased that tomorrow’s action has been suspended and negotiations are continuing”.
Forty thousand physicians in England are planning a 24-hour walkout starting Tuesday, according to the Daily Mail.
Junior doctors are waiting to hear if planned industrial action is to be called off at the last minute. We want them to attend in their own time with flags and banners, and I know that they will back this call.
He said sorting out the contractual dispute with junior doctors was “fundamental to restoring morale”.
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And before they even start as an F1 they are expected to have five to six years of medical school under their belts – with all of the student loans that this entails. Dr Cliff Mann told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We fully understand the concerns of our junior doctors and at the moment terms and conditions are a real barrier to recruitment into emergency medicine”.
