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Junior doctors' strike risks patient safety - Jeremy Hunt Junior doctors' leaders 'trying to topple the government'
(about 4 hours later)
Planned all-out strikes by junior doctors in England this week could threaten the safety of patients, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned. Junior doctors' leaders are trying to bring down the government, a government source has told the BBC.
Hospitals are making final preparations for the latest walkouts - on Tuesday and Wednesday - when emergency care will be affected for the first time. In a scathing attack, the source said the two all-out strikes this week were aimed at toppling the government and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Mr Hunt said the "extreme" action would be "deeply worrying for patients". The British Medical Association said the accusation was "ridiculous".
The BMA said it would call off the strike if Mr Hunt's threat to impose a contract on junior doctors was lifted. It comes as medical leaders called on the prime minister to end the stand-off, warning it posed a "significant threat to our whole health system".
Junior doctors are planning two one-day strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday - walking out between 08:00 BST and 17:00 BST each day. Thirteen senior organisations, including the leaders of 10 royal colleges, have written to David Cameron saying it is up to him to intervene to bring both sides back to the negotiating table.
If they go ahead, it will be the first time in the history of the NHS that junior doctors have walked out of accident and emergency units, urgent maternity services, resuscitation and mental health crisis teams. The letter said: "The ongoing impasse in the dispute between the government and junior doctors poses a significant threat to our whole healthcare system by demoralising a group of staff on whom the future of the NHS depends".
Junior doctors' row: The dispute explainedJunior doctors' row: The dispute explained
Will all-out strikes be Armageddon?Will all-out strikes be Armageddon?
Was a deal with doctors ever possible?Was a deal with doctors ever possible?
What patients need to know
Special report page on the disputeSpecial report page on the dispute
Analysis The royal colleges told the BBC the onus was on the government in power to come up with a solution - and to do that it needed to halt the imposition of the new contract, which has prompted the BMA to escalate the strike action.
By Hugh Pym, BBC health editor But on Monday, a government source ruled out any compromise.
Junior doctors seem set on pushing on with their campaign, convinced the new contract will not protect them from pressure to work excessive hours. The source told the BBC BMA leaders had radicalised a "generation of junior doctors".
They resent the suggestion that contract changes are required to improve hospital services at weekends. And if the government backed down, it would face similar industrial action by other unions, which were watching this dispute "like a hawk".
They say they are confident that all-out strikes will not harm patients because they have been reassured by consultant colleagues that their absence will be covered. Junior doctors will walk out from 08:00 BST to 17:00 BST on Tuesday and Wednesday. This stoppage will see doctors stop providing emergency care for the first time in this dispute - and ever in the history of the NHS. The previous strikes have all involved cover being provided.
It's hard to see how an agreement will be shaped. Instead, it will be left to consultants and middle-grade doctors to staff intensive care, accident and emergency and maternity units, along with nurses, midwives and other non-medical staff.
Both sides will closely monitor public reaction to the action this week and whether some junior doctors ignore the strike call. Hospitals have been putting contingency plans in place, including the postponement of more than 100,000 appointments and nearly 13,000 operations.
Then the BMA will decide how to continue its industrial action and whether to escalate it even further. Extra GP appointments are being kept free for urgent appointments.
Read more from Hugh Earlier on Monday, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt described the strikes as "extreme" and warned they would be "deeply worrying for patients" and could end up risking safety.
Strike action so far has affected routine care, but not urgent care. But BMA leader Dr Mark Porter said the government had the power to stop the industrial action.
Advice published by NHS England says A&E departments will be open during the strike, while GP practices "may experience greater demand than normal" during the walkout. "If you agree to lift imposition while talks resume, we will immediately call off the industrial action," he said.
Essential care will be provided by consultants and other senior staff during the strike.
Patients with planned treatments and outpatient appointments during the strikes should be contacted by their hospital, the advice stated.
Some 112,856 outpatient appointments and 12,711 planned operations are set to be delayed due to the action, NHS England says.
'Enormous strain'
The latest round of strikes follow a long-running row about a controversial new contract for junior doctors in England.
Mr Hunt has argued that he wants to improve care on Saturdays and Sundays, saying research shows patients are more likely to die if they are admitted during a weekend.
However, the BMA has so far rejected the proposed terms of the new contract - which will change their pay and conditions, particularly for weekend work.
Mr Hunt has said he will now unilaterally impose the contract on junior doctors.
On Saturday, the health secretary wrote to Mark Porter, chairman of the BMA council, asking him to call off the strike and resume talks.
He wrote that the strike will place "enormous additional strain on our NHS at a time of intense pressure".
However, Mr Porter replied on Sunday, writing that a negotiated settlement "cannot take place with the threat of imposition hanging over our junior doctors' heads".
"If you agree to lift imposition while talks resume, we will immediately call off the industrial action", he wrote in a letter.
On Sunday, Mr Hunt also rejected a cross-party plan by MPs for a new NHS contract for junior doctors to be piloted first in an attempt to resolve the row.
The letter was organised by Labour's shadow health secretary Heidi Alexander and was signed by Conservative Dr Dan Poulter, Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb and the SNP's Dr Philippa Whitford.
The last strike, which started on 6 April, led to more than 5,000 operations and procedures being postponed as a result of the 48-hour walkout.
Are you a patient who will have treatment disrupted by this week's strike? Are you a junior doctor? Are you planning to take part in the strike? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your stories.Are you a patient who will have treatment disrupted by this week's strike? Are you a junior doctor? Are you planning to take part in the strike? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your stories.
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