Junior doctors take contract fight to high court

Junior doctors in England are going to the High Court to try and stop the government imposing a new contract.

The group Justice for Health, which is mounting the legal challenge, says the contract is unsafe and unsustainable and it accuses Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt of acting outside his powers.

The Department says the case is without merit.

Ministers insist the new contract is needed to improve levels of medical cover in hospitals at weekends.

The hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London will run for two days.

The medics are arguing that, although Mr Hunt is entitled to “recommend” a new contract, he is attempting to go significantly further even though he has no power to decide the terms and conditions under which the NHS and other bodies should employ junior doctors.

The group’s founding members are all junior doctors – Dr Nadia Masood, Dr Ben White, Dr Fran Silman, Dr Amar Mashru and Dr Marie-Estella McVeigh.

The new contract is due to be rolled out from October.

• The basics of the dispute
• What exactly do junior doctors do?
• Analysis: Strikes a step into the unknown
• Junior doctor dispute: Views from the nations

Junior doctors had planned a series of five-day strikes in September, October, November and December in protest of the new contract.

They called off the September strike after senior colleagues said the action was disproportionate and risked patient safety.