Fresh strikes and a legal challenge have been announced as junior doctors declared war on Jeremy Hunt over new working contracts set to be forced upon them .
Three 24-hour strikes are set to take place on Wednesday March 9, Wednesday April 6 and Tuesday April 26.
Providing no agreement with the government is reached, each will start at 8am and emergency care only will be offered during these periods.
The British Medical Association (BMA) also announced on Tuesday (February 23) that it was launching a judicial review on the basis that the government failed to undertake an Equality Impact Assessment prior to the Health Secretary stating the NHS contracts, which include weekend working, would be brought in whether junior doctors like it or not .
Mr Hunt has long supported a seven-day NHS service, but has faced stiff opposition in the form of two strikes so far in 2016. The first took place in January , while another followed earlier this month .
Legal challenge on contracts
The BMA said it was sending a letter before action to Mr Hunt on Tuesday informing him of its decision to challenge his decision to impose the new junior doctor contract, as announced to Parliament on February 11.
Letters were subsequently sent to all junior doctors explaining the decision and providing a summary of the new "final" contract.
The basis of the challenge is what the BMA deems as the "failure" by the Health Secretary to give “due regard” to the impact the contracts would have on junior doctors prior to making and announcing the decision.
The BMA has concerns about potential equality issues the new junior doctor contracts pose.
The deadline for the response to the BMA's letter is March 1.
'Disastrous approach'
BMA junior doctors committee chair Johann Malawana said: "This is yet another example of the incompetence which the government has demonstrated throughout its handling of the dispute.
"Imposing this contract will seriously undermine the ability of the NHS to recruit and retain junior doctors in areas of medicine with the most unsocial areas, where there are already staffing shortages.
"We have already seen NHS chief executives refusing to support an imposition, and patient representatives have said they are appalled by this move.
"Added to this, the government’s former adviser on patient safety, Don Berwick, has said it should apologise to junior doctors over the contract dispute.
"The government must listen to the chorus of concern coming from all quarters and reconsider this disastrous approach."
The decision followed a meeting of the Junior Doctors Committee at the weekend, after Dr Malawana attended a number of emergency regional meetings last week to hear trainees’ views on what should happen next.
Dr Malawana added: "The government can avert this action by re-entering talks with the BMA and addressing rather than simply ignoring the outstanding issues and concerns junior doctors have.
"If it pushes ahead with plans to impose a contract that junior doctors have resoundingly rejected, we will be left with no option but to take this action."
