“Our consultants and ward managers will again work with junior doctors to draw up contingency plans to ensure patients who are treated in our hospitals that day receive safe and compassionate care as usual”.
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Jeremy Hunt has said the decision by junior doctors to stage a five-day strike later this month over the controversial new contract for training medics was “totally irresponsible”.
The move follows a vote by junior doctors in July to reject the proposed changes to their contracts and the BMA says the government is refusing to acknowledge junior doctors’ concerns and continuing with plans to impose the contract in October.
“The first priority must be to protect patients from harm”.
The BMA announced an unprecedented five-day walk out earlier this week and could hold industrial action once a month in the run up to Christmas.
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges – led by 22 of the country’s most senior doctors – said it was “disappointed” at the plans.
It also says the terms are damaging to doctors who work the most weekends, which typically includes those who are in areas such as A&E, where there are already staff shortages.
He added: “We have already had a 48 hour version but this is more hard”.
“Our board and the trusts we represent are therefore formally calling on the BMA to reconsider their proposed strikes for the sake of patients”.
“Because of the duration of this latest period of industrial action it is, unfortunately, inevitable that we shall have to postpone some outpatient appointments and routine procedures”. “When he imposed the contract, he said in parliament: “My door is always open, I want to be able to address any outstanding problems”, so I took him at his word”.
“We have a simple ask of the Government: stop the imposition”.
Despite this, the BMA didn’t wait and announced industrial action.
As the row intensified, the BMA published new guidance to striking junior doctors, informing them patient safety during the strike is not their “sole responsibility”.
“This is not a situation junior doctors wanted to find themselves in”.
In the wake of the industrial action Prime Minister Theresa May accused the BMA of failing to put patients first and “playing politics” – something doctors have denied.
That contract would see basic pay going up by an average 10 to 11 per cent; a 10 per cent top up for doctors working every other weekend; and night shifts to be paid at 37 per cent above normal rates.
Shadow health secretary Diane Abbott said junior doctors have “absolutely no confidence in Jeremy Hunt and this Tory Government”.
The BMA said junior doctors had been left with “no choice” but to start fresh strike action after failed attempts to resolve remaining issues with the contract.
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BMA junior doctor leader Dr Ellen McCourt said the strikes could be called off if the government returned to the negotiating table and suspended the imposition of the new contract in October.
