BMA welcomes government’s U turn on Acas talks ahead of planned strike

The BMA has welcomed the government’s decision to enter conciliation talks in a bid to avert strike action by junior doctors. It said that, to defer industrial action on 1 December, the government must finally remove its threat of imposition.

In a letter to the BMA chair on Wednesday 25 November the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said that he was willing to enter conciliation talks with the association.

Mark Porter, BMA chair, said it was encouraging that Hunt had finally recognised that trust had broken down between junior doctors and the government. “We …