BREAKING NEWS More strikes chaos as junior doctors vow to stage walkouts in days before Christmas and in the New Year in further blow to beleaguered NHS

Junior doctors in England have voted to stage fresh strikes in December and January after talks between the Government and British Medical Association broke down, the union has said.

The BMA union is calling for a full walkout of all junior doctors in the days leading up to Christmas and again in the new year.

The action will last a total of 216 hours and see a full walkout of all junior doctors in what the BMA has hailed as ‘the longest strikes in NHS history’. 

Junior doctors will strike from 7am on December 20 to 7am on December 23 and from 7am on January 3 to 7am on January 9. 

The vote comes just days after Health Secretary Victoria Atkins, who was appointed to the role nearly three weeks ago during a Cabinet reshuffle by Rishi Sunak, said the Government was ‘throwing everything we can’ at resolving the industrial disputes within in the NHS.

Junior doctors in England have voted to stage fresh strikes in December and January after talks between the Government and British Medical Association broke down

Ministers and representatives from the BMA have been locked in negotiations for five weeks trying to find a resolution to the pay dispute.

But the union today said that the Department for Health and Social Care had not been able to put forward a credible offer to end the strikes.

As a result, the BMA’s junior doctors committee has voted unanimously for strikes in December and January, the union said.

BMA junior doctors committee co-chairmen Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said in a statement: ‘We have been clear from the outset of these talks that we needed to move at pace and if we did not have a credible offer, we would be forced to call strikes.

‘After five weeks of intense talks, the Government was unable to present a credible offer on pay by the deadline.

‘Instead, we were offered an additional 3 per cent, unevenly spread across doctors’ grades, which would still amount to pay cuts for many doctors this year. It is clear the Government is still not prepared to address the real-terms pay cut doctors have experienced since 2008.

‘It is a great shame that even though the approach was more constructive, there was not enough on offer to shape a credible deal, which we hoped would end the dispute.

‘Without enough progress by the deadline, we have no choice but to take action that demonstrates doctors are as determined as ever in reversing their pay cuts.

‘However, we can still avoid the need for these strikes. We will be ready and willing any time the Government wants to talk. If a credible offer can be presented the day before, or even during any action, these strikes can be cancelled.

‘The approach from Ms Atkins and the team has been productive but ultimately that alone is not sufficient to make up for 15 years of declining pay.

‘A year after our dispute started, we are still too far from turning the tide on plummeting pay, morale, and retention of doctors. Rather than waste more time and money and have further disruption to patient care, the Health Secretary needs to make a credible offer now.’

The strikes come as waiting lists for routine NHS procedures have shot up to another record high.

At Prime Minister’s Questions last month, Labour Leader Keir Starmer said the NHS waiting list stood at 7.8 million – half a million more than in January. 

Insiders warned at the time that dire situation will likely only get worse with winter looming and the constant threat of fresh strikes, saying the next few months could be ‘appalling’ for patients. 

The Prime Minister pledged at the start of the year to cut waiting lists and newly appointed Ms Atkins has made tackling the disputes with doctors one of her top priorities.

Her approach has produced success, with the Government last week agreeing a deal with consultants in England to potentially end a long and bitter dispute over pay. 

Ms Atkins last week said putting a stop to industrial action would prevent the NHS from having to reschedule appointments during the walkouts.

The Cabinet minister has struck a conciliatory tone when it comes to dealing with health unions, saying she wants to build a ‘new relationship’ with the BMA.

She told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: ‘We have an enormous amount of goodwill at the moment from the BMA and from others, and I’m keen to encourage that.’

Her language has proved markedly different to that of her predecessor Steve Barclay, who referred to the BMA as having a politically ‘militant stance’.

The deal on the table for consultants, set to be put to union members, will see the country’s top doctors earn more money from January, although it will not be paid until April.

The junior doctors’ dispute remains unresolved, however. Their opening gambit was for a 35 per pay rise. But Ms Atkins has said the Government cannot meet such requests but is open to fresh talks to resolve the row.

Asked about the chances of Mr Sunak hitting his waiting lists pledge ahead of the next election, Ms Atkins said: ‘We very much are looking to meet those targets but I need, please, the consultants to pass this settlement that we have put forward.

‘I hope very much that doctors in training will be able to reach a settlement with us as well.

‘And then, if we have removed the threat of industrial action from the NHS, then those people, who for example, in the October set of actions, we had 40,000 appointments being rescheduled each day, well then that stops and we are able to get on with the business of looking after people.’

This is a developing story. Check back for updates. 

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