Government and BMA to restart junior doctors contract talks

The British Medical Association (BMA) is to resume talks with the government over the junior doctors contract dispute.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has agreed to delay the imposition of the controversial and unpopular contract, while the BMA has pledged not to call further strikes, in order to help find a resolution to the increasingly bitter eight-month dispute.

The disagreement has led to a number of industrial actions over the last few months following the breakdown of talks in January, with the first all-out strike in NHS history taking place last month.

The five-day pause in hostilities has been brokered at the suggestion of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, which believes an amicable resolution is needed soon to prevent damage to patients.

So far, the dispute has led to hundreds of thousands of treatments and procedures being postponed, wasting millions of pounds and leading many junior doctors to consider quitting the NHS.

Professor Dame Sue Bailey, chair of the Academy of Medical Colleges, said: "A five-day pause without ifs, buts or maybes, and with both sides in the dispute publicly committing to a serious attempt to reach a resolution through genuine dialogue, is obviously the only way out of this impasse."