Junior doctors lose High Court hearing on new contract

And now, doctors’ leaders have been urged to stop threatening industrial action over the dispute.

Campaign group Justice for Health complained that Mr Hunt wrongly imposed the contract on NHS employers.

But Mr Justice Green has dismissed the claim, after a High Court hearing in London yesterday.

Ministers say the British Medical Association (BMA), which represents doctors, should now remove the threat of further action.

As previously reported in The News, junior doctors held strikes earlier this year including at Queen Alexandra Hospital.

People on the picket line at the Cosham site said the new contract was not safe for patients or junior doctors.

But BMA bosses have suspended strikes planned for October, November and December because of patient safety concerns.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: ‘We must now move on from this dispute to the crucial job of making sure patients get the same high standards of urgent and emergency care every day of the week, which involves more than the junior doctors’ contract.

‘We urge the BMA to remove all threat of further industrial action.’

A BMA spokeswoman said that no decision has been made regarding the prospect of further action.