Junior Doctors Suspend Next Week's Five-Day Strike

Junior doctors have suspended their plans for a five-day walkout next week in a dispute over contracts.

The announcement follows warnings by the General Medical Council that industrial action at such a scale was unjustified at such short notice.

In a statement, the British Medical Association (BMA) said the abandoned strike does not absolve Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, and warned remaining walkouts later in the year will go ahead as planned.

Ellen McCourt, chairwoman of the BMA's junior doctors committee, 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 patient's 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 understaffed. 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."

A Number 10 spokesperson has welcomed the BMA's decision to suspend the planned walkout from 12 to 16 September, adding: "We would urge that junior doctors suspend all other planned strikes."

Further industrial action is planned on 5, 6, 7, 10 and 11 October, 14 to 18 November and 5 to 9 December between the hours of 8am and 5pm.

The rolling action, which is the first of its kind in the history of the NHS, will see junior medics withdraw labour - including emergency care.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "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."

The junior doctors committee warned further strikes will not be suspended because Mr Hunt "continues to ignore our request to stop the imposition" - and said the contract being imposed is discriminatory and disincentivises careers.

Dr McCourt added: "(Jeremy Hunt) 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.

"Further action is, however, still avoidable ... There are four weeks until October. The Secretary of State must use this time to listen and act."

Six strikes have already taken place in the long-running dispute, disrupting hundreds of thousands of patients who have had their appointments and operations cancelled.

In July, junior doctors and medical students voted to reject the contract brokered between health leaders and the BMA - scuppering hopes of a breakthrough.