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| Junior doctors' strike to go ahead next Wednesday, BMA says | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The BMA says a junior doctors’ strike will take place on 10 February in England after talks with the government failed to reach an agreement over new contracts. | The BMA says a junior doctors’ strike will take place on 10 February in England after talks with the government failed to reach an agreement over new contracts. |
| In a statement, the BMA accused the government of putting “politics before patients”. | In a statement, the BMA accused the government of putting “politics before patients”. |
| Tens of thousands of doctors will go on strike from 8am on 10 February, with only emergency care unaffected. | Tens of thousands of doctors will go on strike from 8am on 10 February, with only emergency care unaffected. |
| The first strike took place on 12 January, lasting 24 hours. A second strike scheduled to start on 26 January and last 48 hours was called off by the doctors’ union after it said progress had been made in discussions. But hopes of a settlement were dashed by a statement put out by the BMA on Monday. | The first strike took place on 12 January, lasting 24 hours. A second strike scheduled to start on 26 January and last 48 hours was called off by the doctors’ union after it said progress had been made in discussions. But hopes of a settlement were dashed by a statement put out by the BMA on Monday. |
| Dr Johann Malawana, BMA junior doctor committee chair, said: “The government’s position – based on ideology rather than reason – risks souring relations with an entire generation of junior doctors, the very doctors who the secretary of state [Jeremy Hunt] has acknowledged as the backbone of the NHS. | Dr Johann Malawana, BMA junior doctor committee chair, said: “The government’s position – based on ideology rather than reason – risks souring relations with an entire generation of junior doctors, the very doctors who the secretary of state [Jeremy Hunt] has acknowledged as the backbone of the NHS. |
| “The government’s entrenched position in refusing to recognise Saturday working as unsocial hours, together with its continued threat to impose a contract so fiercely resisted by junior doctors across England, leaves us with no alternative but to continue with industrial action.” | “The government’s entrenched position in refusing to recognise Saturday working as unsocial hours, together with its continued threat to impose a contract so fiercely resisted by junior doctors across England, leaves us with no alternative but to continue with industrial action.” |
| Originally the plan was for next week’s strike to be more comprehensive than the first strike, including emergency care, but only between 8am and 5pm. That plan has been abandoned in the face of public concern about the impact it would have. | |
| An Ipsos Mori poll in January showed public support for the strike was much stronger if junior doctors continued to provide emergency care throughout any industrial action. The survey commissioned by BBC Newsnight showed 66% in support and 16% in opposition if emergency care was provided but the respective figures were 44% and 39% if junior doctors working in A&E joined the walkout. | |
| The first stoppage led to 4,000 operations being cancelled and thousands more outpatient appointments rescheduled. Junior doctors joined picket lines at more than 100 hospitals in protest against new pay and conditions proposed by Jeremy Hunt. | |
| NHS England said 38% of junior doctors did come to work but that figure included those working in emergency care who were not taking action. | |
| Hunt’s appointment of Sir David Dalton as the government’s chief negotiator had raised hopes that the gulf between the two sides could be bridged and further strike action could be averted. Announcing that next week’s action would go ahead, Malawana made a point of praising Dalton and laying the blame squarely at the door of the government. | |
| She said: “Over the past few weeks, we have welcomed the involvement of Sir David Dalton in talks about a new junior doctor contract which recognises the need to protect patient care and doctors’ working lives. His understanding of the realities of a health service buckling under mounting pressures and commitment to reaching a fair agreement has resulted in good progress on a number of issues. It is, therefore, particularly frustrating that the government is still digging in its heels.” |