BMA escalates strike action against junior doctors contract
JUNIOR doctors have agreed to “escalate” strike action against the Government’s proposed new contract, with the British Medical Association announcing it is ramping up its opposition.
The chairman of the BMA’s junior doctor committee (JDC), Dr Johann Malawana, wrote to medics to confirm that it had “voted to move towards an escalation of its planned action”. He said the “exact nature” of the action would be confirmed this week and that the Government’s refusal to continue talks with junior doctors has left them with “no alternative but to consider all options open to them”.
He cited the Government’s “refusal to engage” as the reasoning behind the move.
There is no detail about what this escalation will involve. They had planned earlier this year to withdraw all emergency cover, but did not carry out the action.
Junior doctors have al- ready held a 48-hour strike since the imposition of the junior doctor contract, causing the cancellation of thousands of operations, with two more planned in early and late April.
It is also taking the Government to judicial review over the revelation that the Government failed to carry out an equality impact assessment before imposing a new contract on junior doctors in England.
Dr Malawana said: “The Government’s refusal to get back around the table and to reach agreement through talks has left junior doctors with no alternative but to consider all options open to them.
“Let me be clear, no junior doctor wants to have to take industrial action. Junior doctors want a negotiated settlement, but the Government is refusing to engage with the BMA.”
Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, last month announced that he was imposing a contract on junior doctors after talks broke down over the issue of evening and weekend pay. An Ipsos Mori poll for BBC
News released earlier this month revealed that 65 per cent of the public supported the doctors’ cause.
‘Junior doctors want a settlement, but the Government is refusing to engage’