Health Secretary Steve Barclay sent the union a letter just before 10pm on Friday.
The British Medical Association (BMA) has rejected last-minute calls to call off planned strike action.
Junior doctors have rejected a last-minute plea from Health Secretary Steve Barclay to cancel this week’s planned strike action.
All doctors except consultants and so-called speciality and specialist (SAS) doctors are currently set to take all-out strike action for 72 hours starting from Monday 13th March at 7am.
Mr Barclay sent the union a letter just before 10pm on Friday asking the union to enter immediate pay negotiations but a with number of preconditions, including that all planned strike action must be called off.
It comes nearly three weeks after the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) called off its planned strike action for a similar deal. A move that is now being criticised by RCN members for using up significant time from the two months remaining on the union’s strike mandate.
No credible offer.
The BMA rejected the offer, warning strikes would continue until a “credible offer” is on the table.
Co-chairs of the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee, Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, write in their response: “We remain open to entering talks with government anytime and anywhere to bring this dispute to a swift resolution and restore the pay that junior doctors have lost.
“We would encourage you to reconsider the preconditions that are currently preventing talks from taking place.
They conclude, “As you have known for more than two weeks, our strikes will commence on Monday. And you also know, until we have a credible offer, we are not in a position to call them off.”
Nursing staff took to social media today to show their support for the doctor’s union. One nurse told NursingNotes, “It is about time a health union showed they are not scared of a fight and stood up to the government “bully-boy” tactics”.
