In todays Express Newspaper, Mr Hunt said he will delay the introduction of new contracts for five days if Junior Doctors agree to talks on outstanding issues. The announcement came as young medics and the Government were urged to “take a deep breath” and try to break the deadlock over pay demands. Senior medical staff called on both sides to end the stand-off after months of wrangling, which has led to strike action and thousands of cancelled operations.Writing to the chairman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AOMRC), Mr Hunt responded by saying his department was committed to the August introduction of the contract, but was willing to hear what the doctors have to say.
AOMRC chairman Professor Dame Sue Bailey said: “A five-day pause without ‘ifs, buts or maybes’ and with both sides in the dispute publicly committing to a serious attempt to reach a resolution through genuine dialogue is obviously the only way out of this impasse.
“Before either side does anything else, all the 22 Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties are unanimously calling on the Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt and the chairman of the British Medical Association’s Junior Doctors’ committee Johann Malawana to take a deep breath, dial down the rhetoric and get back to the table for talks facilitated, perhaps, by a senior independent figure.”
Last week Junior Doctors went on an all-out strike for two working days. For the first time in the history of the NHS, Junior Doctors in England stopped providing emergency care during the walkouts. More than 125,000 appointments and operations were cancelled and will need to be rearranged. This figure is on top of almost 25,000 procedures cancelled during previous walkouts. The BMA has already urged Mr Hunt to halt the imposition of the contract and reopen negotiations. The union has not made any decisions about how to proceed.
A Department of Health spokesman said: “The BMA directly caused the introduction of new contracts after we agreed to suspend imposition last November, because they went back on their word to talk about Saturday pay.
“It is now too late to change the process of bringing in contracts which is well under way throughout the country.
“However, the door remains open to talk about implementation and many other non-contractual issues of concern to Junior Doctors – so if this intervention helps those talks to go ahead, we welcome that.”
Prime Minister David Cameron called for the proposed talks to focus on the issue of Saturday working.
He said:”I welcome the fact that there is the prospect of discussions between the Department of Health and the Junior Doctors.
“I think it’s important that if these talks do go ahead, they focus not on the 90% of things that have been agreed, but focus very much on the 10% of things that haven’t been agreed, particularly the issue around Saturday working.”
Dr Johann Malawana, the BMA’s JDC chairman, said: “As suggested by the academy, we are keen to restart talks with an open mind.
“It is critical to find a way forward on all the outstanding issues – which are more than just pay – and hope that a new offer is made that can break the impasse.”