Judicial review of doctors’ contract imposition to be launched amid further strikes

The British Medical Association (BMA) has confirmed that it will be launching a judicial review over the government's decision to impose a new contract on junior doctors in England.

It was recently discovered that the government may have failed to undertake an Equality Impact Assessment prior to its decision to enforce the contract, potentially contravening the Equality Act 2010.

The judicial review is being planned alongside three further dates of industrial action, with 48-hour periods of emergency-only care provision to commence at 08:00 on March 9th, April 6th and April 26th.

This follows a recent intervention by Professor Don Berwick, the government's former patient safety adviser, that called on the government to apologise to junior doctors over its conduct in the dispute.

Dr Johann Malawana, the BMA's junior doctor committee chair, said: "The government can avert this action by re-entering talks with the BMA and addressing the outstanding issues and concerns junior doctors have, rather than simply ignoring them."

A BMA ballot of junior doctors last November showed 98 percent of those who voted supported taking industrial action, reflecting the depth of unhappiness about the contract.