JUNIOR doctors are poised to escalate their industrial action as they battle against the imposition of a new contract which they insist is unsafe.

Outside Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary, junior medics turned out yesterday to support a second 48-hour national strike with no sign of that the Government will back down over its proposed contract.

The protest came as the doctors’ union the BMA announced plans for a two-day 8am to 5pm strike at the end of the month with no emergency cover.

The doctors on the picket line said their action would not be put patients at risk because NHS trusts can plug the gaps with consultants and other staff.

Dr Anthony Starr, 26, on the picket line outside the infirmary with junior colleagues, said the primary concern for him and his colleagues was that the new contract would put patients at risk.

“It’s about patient safety,” he said. “We want a contract which will be safe and fair on our patients.”

He said evidence was emerging that one effect of the new contract would be to make working 12 hour shifts a “standard” work pattern for hospital junior doctors – those below consultant grade.

“It means we’ll be more tired and more likely to make mistakes,” he said. “For single parents, it will cause a lot of problems. Our argument is that we already have a 24/7 NHS.”

Dr Starr said what the NHS needed most was more investment, yet the Government has capped medical students numbers.

“We’d argue that what we are doing is not irresponsible. If what we were doing was unsafe we wouldn’t do it. Some of the most experienced doctors will provide the emergency care needed in A&E.”

Fellow junior doctor Michael Keane, 27, added: “I’m supporting the strike because the Government has no idea what it’s doing to the NHS. The current system is unsustainable.

“You can’t cut social care and expect hospital services not to suffer.

“The safeguard to protect us from excessive hours would be monitoring by the Care Quality Commission but I have no confidence in that.” 

The next strike – between 8am and 5pm – is scheduled for Tuesday April 26 and Wednesday April 27.

All junior doctors will be asked to walk out and not provide emergency cover between those hours.

The Government says the new contract is designed to provide an effective seven day per week NHS.

A spokeswoman for North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages the infirmary and Whitehaven’s West Cumberland Hospital, said: “Like every NHS organisation, we have tried and tested plans in place to deal with a range of disruptions, including industrial action, and will be working with all partners to ensure the continued safe care of our patients during this time.”

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has described the industrial action which is being taken by the doctors as “irresponsible.”

Talks between the BMA and the Government broke down in 2014 but the dispute has escalated in the intervening months after ministers said that they would impose the new contract.