Militant NHS junior doctors plotting crippling seven-day strike after crushing court defeat

MILITANT junior doctors plan a seven-day strike after a crushing court defeat in their contract fight with the Government yesterday.

A High Court judge ruled Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt did not overstep his powers when he approved new employment terms for trainees.

Justice for Health, a group founded by five doctors, had wanted his move quashed.

They also said his decision lacked a sound or rational foundation and should be quashed.

But Mr Justice Green ruled their complaint was entirely without basis and Mr Hunt had acted “squarely” within his remit.

He agreed with the health secretary’s case that he had only approved the new contract and not compelled bosses to adopt it.

NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts, say the ruling allows them to begin the rollout of the new contract from next week as planned.

The new terms include changes to weekend pay rates as part of the government’s commitment to seven-day NHS services in England.

Junior doctors say the new contract is “unsafe and unsustainable” and have held six strikes since January, including the first all-out stoppages in the history of the NHS.

Other five-day walkouts planned for October, November and December have been suspended by the doctors’ union, the British Medical Association, over fears for patient safety.

But militants on union’s Junior Doctors’ Committee now want a seven-day walkout, an insider claims.

The BMA announced on Tuesday that they have invited Mr Hunt to attend a conference on seven day services but it is alleged they are secretly hoping he fails to turn up.

This will allow them to criticise him for refusing to engage and pave the way for fresh strike action.

The insider said: “If he doesn’t show up the press and Labour will destroy him and the junior doctors will win the media battle.

“It’s at this point junior doctors can escalate the strikes again.

“This is partly about appeasing the more militant members who joined the BMA and are furious about the strike action being called off.

“It’s a deliberate trap but ironically a lot of the more militant junior doctors don’t realise this and accuse the JDC of selling out.”

A Department of Health source said: “This is staggering and reckless and the wrong thing to do for patients.

“Junior doctors have already been warned of the dangers of five-day strikes.”

Justice for Health said they were “thrilled” with yesterday’s High Court result because it had revealed Mr Hunt was not imposing the new contract.

It means each NHS trust is free to decide whether they wish to adopt the new contract and could create an opportunity for doctors to lobby local health bosses.

But NHS Providers chief executive Chris Hopson crushed their hopes, saying: “NHS trusts tell us that they believe a single national contract offers a consistent approach that is in the best interests of patients and the wider NHS workforce.

“We hope the ruling will enable the health service to draw a line under the situation and now move towards effectively introducing the new contract for junior doctors.”

Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said: “We welcome the clarity of the judgment given by Lord Justice Green.

“Employers are committed to working with doctors representatives to oversee the implementation of the contract both nationally and locally.”

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “We welcome this clear decision by the judge that the Secretary of State acted entirely lawfully.

“We must now move on from this dispute to the crucial job of making sure patients get the same high standards of urgent and emergency care every day of the week, which involves more than the junior doctors’ contract.

“We urge the BMA to remove all threat of further industrial action so we can work constructively with junior doctors to address their wider concerns and better recognise their vital importance to the NHS.”

Dr Ellen McCourt, chairwoman of the JDC, said: “This ruling will do nothing to address the fact that morale amongst junior doctors is at an all-time low.

“The BMA has not accepted the contract, we remain in dispute around the contract.

“There are still several outstanding concerns.

“We are looking at a variety of other options — we have not yet released those to our members — but what we need to do is find ways of challenging this at a more local level and using a variety of different methods.

“We’re still looking into them.”

A BMA spokesman said: “I can categorically say that a seven-day walkout definitely isn’t on the cards.

“Patient safety is doctors’ primary concern.”