HEALTH Secretary Jeremy Hunt and doctors at Frimley Park Hospital have expressed their delight at reaching a near-end to the bitter dispute over a new NHS junior doctors contract.

The MP for South West Surrey finally reached an agreement with doctors’ union the British Medical Association (BMA) after 10 days of rigorous talks on May 18 and the new contract will be put into effect in August this year, if voted in by junior doctors during June and July.

Following the announcement, Mr Hunt told The Herald: “I am very pleased that we have reached agreement with the BMA leadership about the new junior doctor contract.

“This is the biggest single change to that contract for nearly two decades, and will help us to deliver a safer, seven-day NHS.”

Mr Hunt added the agreement will make it easier for hospitals to roster doctors at weekends and safer for doctors by reducing the maximum hours they can be asked to work.

He continued: “The talks we held through the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) were constructive, and crucially they allowed us to focus on many areas outside the contract where we will do further work to better value the vital role of junior doctors, improving the training and support they get.

“A new family support package will help junior doctors balance their home life with work, including joint training placements for couples and a catch-up programme for those who take time out of training.

“While no one would have wanted to go through these strikes to get there, this deal is therefore a major step forward for both patients and doctors.”

Frimley Park A&E doctor Samantha Batt-Rawden, who helped organise several protests and Meet the Doctors events during the dispute, also gave her verdict on the news.

She said: “We are all relieved to see a potential end to what has been a bitter, and long-running dispute.

“As the BMA has always prioritised patient safety as well as the needs of doctors, I am cautiously optimistic that when the full terms and conditions are released that this will be a good deal for the NHS as a whole.”

Dr Batt-Rawden also criticised the Government’s conduct during the long-running dispute, however, commenting that Mr Hunt in particular “has a lot to answer for”.

“In moving forward, the government will have difficulty in regaining the trust of a whole generation of doctors,” she added.

“A great deal of damage has been done over a contract that wasn’t necessary, to fix a ‘weekend effect’ that never existed.

“Many of my talented colleagues have become so demoralised that they have left the country, the NHS and even the profession. We already have a shortage of doctors. In the past we’ve all stayed hours late every day taking on more and more patients as vacancies increase.

“That goodwill is no longer there and I’m worried about how the NHS will cope with all the rota gaps left by doctors who have been driven away by Jeremy Hunt. He has an awful lot to answer for.”

The deal is also good news for patients, coming after the cancellation of hundreds of operations and clinics at the two major hospitals serving Farnham - Frimley Park and the Royal Surrey - since the first threatened walk-out last December.