Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has won a High Court a fight with junior doctors over a staffing contract.
Junior doctors have complained Mr Hunt wrongly imposed the contract on NHS employers.
Justice for Health, a group founded by five doctors, said Mr Hunt acted beyond the scope of his powers by compelling NHS employers to adopt the new deal.
But Mr Hunt said the complaint was without substance and today, Mr Justice Green, who analysed evidence at the hearing in London last week, ruled in favour of the Health Secretary.
The Government has now urged doctors’ leaders to remove the threat of further industrial action.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, pictured today has won a High Court a fight with junior doctors over a staffing contract
Justice for Health – founded by Dr Nadia Masood, Dr Ben White, Dr Fran Silman, Dr Amar Mashru and Dr Marie-Estella McVeigh – said Mr Hunt’s decision to impose the contract lacked a sound or rational foundation and should be quashed.
Mr Hunt said he approved a new contract but has not imposed it on employers or compelled them to adopt it.
Mr Justice Green who concluded that Mr Hunt had approved the contract but had not compelled employers to adopt it.
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The judge said the decision was sufficiently clear and was not irrational.
The litigation follows opposition to Mr Hunt’s plans for seven-day NHS services in England.
Junior doctors began strikes, the longest of which has lasted two days, in January.
The British Medical Association, which represents doctors, has suspended industrial action by junior doctors planned for October, November and December.
The litigation followed opposition to Mr Hunt’s plans for seven-day NHS services in England.
Junior doctors began strikes, the longest of which has lasted two days, in January.
Justice for Health, a group founded by five junior doctors, had said the contract put forward by Mr Hunt is unsafe and unsustainable. But the High Court judge found in Mr Hunt’s favour
The industrial action planned for October, November and December was suspended at the weekend after junior doctors’ leaders acknowledged waning support from the public
But the British Medical Association, which represents doctors, has suspended industrial action by junior doctors planned for October, November and December.
They cited concerns about patient safety as being the main reason.
News of the suspension was welcomed by the Department of Health, which urged the BMA to call off industrial action permanently in the interests of patients.
Dr Ellen McCourt, chair of the BMA junior doctors committee, said the decision had been taken ‘in light of feedback from doctors, patients and the public, and following a passionate, thoughtful and wide-ranging debate amongst junior doctors’.
She insisted calling the five-day doctor strikes had not been a mistake and said each trainee would have to make their own decision whether to sign the contract from next week.
The Government has now urged doctors’ leaders to remove the threat of further industrial action after Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt won a High Court battle over a new contract for junior doctors.
GP trainee Dr Francesca Silman (left), Saimo Chahal QC and medical registrar Dr Ben White at a press conference in London after Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt won a High Court a fight
The Department of Health welcomed the news as it urged the British Medical Association (BMA) to remove the threat of action.
The union said it still opposes the contract and was planning ‘a range of other actions’ to resist it.
A Department of Health spokeswoman said: ‘We welcome this is a clear decision by the judge that the Secretary of State acted entirely lawfully.
‘We must now move on from this dispute to the crucial job of making sure patients get the same high standards of urgent and emergency care every day of the week, which involves more than the junior doctors’ contract.
‘We urge the BMA to remove all threat of further industrial action so we can work constructively with junior doctors to address their wider concerns and better recognise their vital importance to the NHS.’
Mr Justice Green heard that lawyers representing Mr Hunt had run up bills of around £150,000.
He said Justice for Health should pay £55,000 of that figure.
Justice for Health lawyers indicated there may be an appeal.
JUNIOR DOCTORS QA: WHAT PROMPTED THE DISPUTE
How long has this been running on?
Discussions surrounding the contract for junior doctors in England started in 2012. Since then there have been various rounds of talks, and in January this year the first in a series of walkouts began.
What is the row about?
A major sticking point was a move by Mr Hunt to cut the number of hours over a weekend for which junior doctors can claim extra pay, offsetting this with a hike in basic pay.
What happened with that?
Negotiations in May resulted in a deal with new terms, including a premium rate of pay for doctors working Saturdays and Sunday if they work seven or more weekends in a year.
Any night shift, on any day of the week – which starts at or after 8pm and lasts more than eight hours, and finishes at or by 10am the following day – will also result in an enhanced pay rate of 37% for all the hours worked.
Junior doctors have taken part in a series of walkouts over the new contracts
So why has that deal not been agreed?
The British Medical Association did reach agreement on the above terms, but when they put it to junior doctors it was voted down in July by 58% to 42%, with a 68% turnout. The head of the junior doctors’ committee, Johann Malawana, who had supported the new deal, stepped down after the vote. He was replaced by Dr Ellen McCourt.
So not all junior doctors are opposed to the new deal?
The BMA council has refused to reveal the breakdown of their vote to approve the strike action, but dismissed reports it was a close 16-14 split. BMA chairman Dr Mark Porter said the council spent around three hours discussing the issue before voting. He added: ‘The council is absolutely behind, as is the rest of the BMA, absolutely behind the decision that has been taken.’
A major sticking point was a move by Mr Hunt to cut the number of hours over a weekend for which junior doctors can claim extra pay
What has prompted the latest strike action?
The BMA said Dr McCourt had written to Mr Hunt during the summer to air the continued concerns of junior doctors about the contract, but had not received a response. They have now said they will strike, unless the new contract is dropped.
What are the main concerns which junior doctors feel still have not been addressed?
Doctors are worried about the impact the contract could have on part-time workers, who they say are mostly women, and those who work the most weekends.
Dr McCourt said: ‘Junior doctors still have serious concerns with the contract, particularly that it will fuel the workforce crisis, and that it fails to treat all doctors fairly.’