Junior doctors to negotiate with British government

Junior doctors and the British government will return to the negotiating table on Monday in an effort to break the deadlock over the controversial new contract for junior medics.

The British Medical Association (BMA) will hold fresh talks after health secretary Jeremy Hunt agreed to a five-day pause in the imposition of the new contract.

Johann Malawana, chairman of the BMA's junior doctors committee, said he hoped "real progress can now be made to end this dispute".

However, he said that any contract should be put to a referendum of junior doctors.

Mr Hunt said on Thursday that he wanted “written agreement” from the BMA’s junior doctors committee that discussions over the contentious issues of unsocial hours and Saturday pay would be held in “good faith”.

Dr Malawana said: “The BMA has agreed to re-enter talks with the government on outstanding issues in this dispute, which include, but are not limited to, unsocial hours.

"Junior doctors' concerns extend far beyond pay, and our principle in talks will be to deliver a fair contract that does not discriminate against women or any other group, one which addresses the recruitment and retention crisis in the NHS and which provides the basis for delivering a world-class health service.

“The BMA will also call for any contract offer - agreed or not - to be put to a referendum of junior doctors, as is usual following a contract negotiation.

“We hope that with both parties back around the negotiating table, real progress can now be made to ending this dispute through talks.”

A department of health spokeswoman said: “We welcome the BMA’s decision to return to talks, and have always been clear that we want to see a negotiated solution to this dispute that delivers the seven-day NHS we promised the British people in last year’s election.

“From Monday we will be looking for resolution on the small number of outstanding issues that separated both parties in February, principally Saturday pay, but also other issues that affect the motivation, recruitment and retention of junior doctors.”

The agreement to resume talks follows a wave of industrial action launched by junior doctors in recent months, which saw thousands of operations cancelled after negotiations reached an impasse.

The resumption of negotiations has been brokered by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.

Mr Hunt has insisted that discussions should focus on outstanding contractual issues.

Junior doctors stopped providing emergency care for the first time in NHS history during their most recent walkout, which lasted for two days last week.

Cancellations

More than 125,000 appointments and operations were cancelled and will need to be rearranged, on top of the 25,000 procedures cancelled during previous action.

The dispute began when the government took steps to introduce its manifesto commitment of a seven-day NHS.

Mr Hunt wants to change what constitutes “unsocial” hours for which junior doctors can claim extra pay, turning 7am to 5pm on Saturday into a normal working day.

Currently, 7pm to 7am Monday to Friday and the whole of Saturday and Sunday attract a premium rate of pay for junior doctors.

Despite the government offsetting this change with a hike in basic pay of 13.5 per cent, it has proved to be a sticking point with the BMA.

The imposed contract, due to come into force in August, will still allow premium rates for Saturday evenings and all of Sunday.

PA