BOA statement: Junior doctors – imposition of contract

The BOA deplores the government’s decision to impose a contract on junior doctors. We are strongly of the view that negotiations should be resumed as a matter of urgency to arrive at an expeditious and mutually agreed outcome. This has become all the more urgent ahead of the planned strikes next week on 26th and 27th April and a further attempt to negotiate should be done this week. 

As matters currently stand there is a serious risk that many demoralised junior doctors will choose to leave the NHS in England. As a consequence the country could potentially lose a generation of hard won expertise that will be essential to the future care and well-being of patients. In the longer term, a view that the BOA espouses as being of particular importance, we stand in real danger of losing the best and brightest minds from engaging in a career in medicine.

This would have devastating repercussions for the tens of thousands of people suffering from orthopaedic trauma and longer term orthopaedic conditions.