Atkins: I’ll negotiate with junior doctors if they have reasonable expectations

The Health Secretary said she would sit down to negotiate with junior doctors if they enter talks with “reasonable expectations”.

Victoria Atkins told the Commons it is time for the British Medical Association’s (BMA) junior doctors committee to “show that they’re serious about doing a deal”.

She also said a “fair and reasonable deal can be reached”.

The latest junior doctors’ strike in England, the longest in NHS history and which health bosses have said has caused “delay and disruption” to thousands of patients, is due to come to an end at 7am on Tuesday January 9.

Making a statement in the Commons, Ms Atkins said: “Earlier this week I said that if they called off their damaging strike action I would get round the table with them in 20 minutes.

“I am of course extremely disappointed that they have refused my offer and continue to refuse the offer, because of course the strikes are ongoing as we speak.

“But if they come to the negotiating table with reasonable expectations, I will sit down with them.”

She also told MPs: “It is time for the junior doctors committee to show that they’re serious about doing a deal.

“They have legitimate concerns about their working lives, and a fair and reasonable deal can be reached. But calling damaging strikes is not the way to achieve this.”

The Health Secretary reiterated her position that the Government “will not negotiate with the BMA whilst strike action is under way and patient safety is at risk.”

She said: “I don’t believe it is right to negotiate with unions whilst they are being unreasonable, and some of their members are walking out of hospitals at the busiest and most challenging time of year for patients.

“And I remind the House that the junior doctors committee’s headline demand of a 35% pay rise is simply unaffordable for taxpayers.”

She said the junior doctors’ strikes have put “profound pressure on hospitals and GP surgeries throughout the country”.

Giving an update on NHS leaders’ calls to junior doctors in some areas to return to work, she said: “As of 9:30am this morning 40… patient safety mitigations have been submitted during this round of strikes. Two have been accepted by the BMA.”

Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chairman of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, told the PA news agency earlier: “It takes two to tango – the Government also need to involve themselves in that process for it to be successful.

“Ultimately, what we’re looking for is an end to this dispute… and the first way to do that is to restore the pay cuts that we have had, which will help restore the value in the profession.

“But until the Government is willing to negotiate with us we’re not able to unilaterally do that.

“So we won’t be calling for strike action unless and if we need to, but there is a real future where we don’t have to call for strike action ever again, if we’re able to come to an agreement.”

Committee co-chairman Dr Robert Laurenson told PA said that so far there has been no invitation for talks to resume, adding: “There has been no invitation for a minute past 7am tomorrow – or 7.20 tomorrow.”

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting told the Commons: “Given how ill-equipped they left the NHS, and given the desperate pleas from NHS leaders for these strikes to be resolved, why on earth did the Government choose to sit back and let this damaging strike action go ahead?”

NHS officials said the impact of the walkout could last for weeks or months as hospitals try to resume normal levels of activity while catching up on lost hours.

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, earlier told PA: “Throughout the last 14 months of NHS strikes, meticulous planning and hard work have allowed trusts to prioritise patient safety and protect emergency and critical care.

“But this walkout was the longest in NHS history so the scale of the challenge was that much greater.

“It will take time for the NHS to recover, including work on waiting lists and rebuilding staff morale.

“We urgently need both sides in this dispute – the Government and the BMA – to refresh negotiations and find a resolution.”

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, told PA: “Given the impact these days have had, and given the impact that further days would have, I think NHS leaders I represent would say, ‘This is not a time for standing on ceremony. This is not a time for worrying about losing face. Actually, the public, patients and NHS staff as a whole would give enormous credit to either the Government or the BMA if they were seem to be the ones who were who were removing obstacles to getting on the negotiation’.”

The strike coincides with one of the busiest weeks of the year for the health service as it attends to a rising number of people with winter bugs, staff sickness absence and people coming forward who put off seeking help over the Christmas holiday.

Junior doctors in Northern Ireland are being balloted for the first time over potential strike action.

If BMA members vote for strike action, medics will stage a 24-hour full walkout, the BMA’s Northern Ireland junior doctors’ committee said.

Meanwhile, junior doctors in Wales are set to stage a 72-hour walk out from Monday January 15.

Junior doctors in Scotland settled their pay dispute last summer.