U.K.: New lead negotiator issues personal appeal to junior doctors to avoid Wednesday's scheduled job action

LONDON, U.K. | New National Health Services lead negotiator Sir David Dalton has written a letter to all 45,000 junior doctors in England in hopes of averting a full withdrawal of services on Wednesday, the Guardian reported.Dalton is a widely respected chief executive in the NHS but, according to the Guardian, there is concern that his letter is an attempt to drive a wedge between the junior doctors and the British Medical Association, their negotiating body.“It is clear that what is needed is a commitment on both sides to continue to talk on the key remaining issues and to find the room for settlement," Dalton wrote in the letter."It is really disheartening that at the end of last week the BMA declined an invitation to talk about the key outstanding issues (i.e. unsocial hours definition and associated payments), and have so far stated that they are unwilling to negotiate and reconsider these points at all.”Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt enlisted the help of Dalton last month.Dalton runs the Salford Royal hospital NHS trust where he gave doctors key roles in hospital operations. Since then, the hospital has made remarkable headway improving patient outcomes and, according to the Guardian, Salford has some of the highest staff satisfaction rates across the NHS.But so far, it seems as though Dalton has been unable to break the deadlock on the key issue of extending the normal working week to Saturday.The NHS offered a 11% raise in basic pay to offset the extension but the BMA has rejected that as too little.See related articles:U.K. junior doctors refuse 11% pay hike following strike threatU.K.: NHS accuses British Medical Association of inciting unlawful strike action

U.K.: New lead negotiator issues personal appeal to junior doctors to avoid Wednesday's scheduled job action

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