Junior doctors suspend week of strikes amid mounting pressure from public over patient safety

STRIKE action due to be held by junior doctors across England next week has been suspended.

The strikes were due to take place in England between Monday and Friday next week have been called off - but further walkouts have not been ruled out.

A statement released by the British Medical Association (BMA) this afternoon said accusations that medics have been acting militantly and radically were "untrue" but called off the strikes at the last minute because NHS England said it "couldn't cope" if doctors walked out at only seven days' notice.

The statement, made by chairwoman Ellen McCourt, said: "Over the past few days we have been described as radical, we have been described as militant, we have been described as prioritising ourselves over our patients’ safety.

"This is not true.

"Patient safety remains doctors’ primary concern. For the first time in this dispute NHS England have told us that a service under such pressure cannot cope with the notice period for industrial action given.

"Our hospitals are chronically under staffed. Our NHS is desperately underfunded. We have to listen to our colleagues when they tell us that they need more time to keep patients safe.

"We have also listened to the concerns of working doctors, patient groups and the public. Thousands of you have been in touch, your level of anger over the Secretary of State’s imposed contract remains high, but at the same time you want to keep your patients safe during industrial action.

"The BMA is therefore suspending the industrial action planned for the week of September 12. The remaining programme of industrial action stays in place."

The Government and British Medical Association (BMA) remain at loggerheads over the contract, which the Department of Health says will help to provide a seven-day NHS.

Six strikes have already taken place across England during the lengthy dispute, causing disruption to hundreds of thousands of patients who have had appointments and operations cancelled.

In May it looked as though a breakthrough had been reached in the dispute after both sides agreed to a new deal.

Then in July, the Government announced that it would impose a new contract after junior doctors and medical students voted to reject the contract brokered between health leaders and the BMA.

Ms McCourt went on to add that if Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt did not stop the roll out of the ";discriminatory" new contract, further action in October will still go ahead as planned.

Further strikes are due to happen between the hours of 8am and 5 pm on October 5-7 and October 10-11; November 14-18, and December 5-9.

She added: "This does not absolve the Secretary of State. He continues to ignore our request to stop the imposition. He continues to force upon junior doctors a contract that discriminates against carers, patients, doctors with disabilities and women, a contract that devalues our time and a contract that disincentives careers in our most struggling specialties.

"He continues to strive towards an uncosted, unfunded, unstaffed extended seven day service. He continues to disregard the concerns junior doctors have about staffing shortages and patient safety.

"Future action is, however, still avoidable. The BMA has repeatedly said that it will call off further action if the Secretary of State stops his imposition of the contract, listens to the concerns of junior doctors, and works with us to negotiate a contract, based upon fresh agreed principles, that has the confidence of junior doctors.

"There are four weeks until October. The Secretary of State must use this time to listen and act."

In a statement to the House of Commons, the Health Secretary said the forthcoming strikes would bring "unprecedented misery" on patients.

Mr Hunt told MPs: "This afternoon's news delaying the first strike is of course welcome but we mustn't let it obscure the fact that the remaining planned industrial action is unprecedented in length and severity and will be damaging for patients - some of whom will have already had operations cancelled."

He added: "It is deeply perplexing for patients, NHS leaders and indeed the Government, that the reaction of the BMA leadership, who previously supported this contract, is now to initiate the most extreme strike action in NHS history, inflicting unprecedented misery on millions of patients up and down the country.

"We currently anticipate that up to 100,000 elective operations will be cancelled and up to a million hospital appointments will be postponed."

He continued: "As with previous strikes we cannot give an absolute guarantee that patients will be safe but hospitals up and down the country will bust a gut to look after their patients."

Last week the British Medical Association announced training medics would perform a series of strikes by withdrawing labour, including emergency care, for a week each month until the end of the year.

The first wave of strikes was supposed to start next Monday.

But concerns have been raised over patient safety. Earlier the doctors' regulator, the General Medical Council, warned that patients would "suffer" given the scale of the action at such short notice.

Professor Terence Stephenson, chairman of the General Medical Council, said: "Last week, on behalf of a number of organisations, we asked the BMA to consider moving the start date of their industrial action.

"We are therefore pleased that they have agreed to do so. This delay will give hospitals and other providers more time to plan for reduced medical cover, thereby reducing the impact and potential harm to patients."

Downing Street welcomed news of the suspension of the walkout.

A Number 10 spokesman said: "The Government's position has been that we didn't want the strike to take place. The BMA, as we have repeatedly said, should be putting patients first and not playing politics.

"It is extremely good news for patients that this strike has been suspended. We would urge junior doctors to suspend all other planned strikes."

A Department of Health spokesman said: "The public will be relieved that the BMA has decided to call off the first phase of these unprecedented strikes, so this is welcome news.

"But if the BMA were really serious about patient safety, they would immediately cancel their remaining plans for industrial action which, as the GMC says, will only cause patients to suffer."

More follows.

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