NHS Confederation responds to the government's offer of talks with the BMA

In response to confirmation that the Department of Health and Social Care has invited the BMA's consultants committee to begin negotiations, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation said:

“Given the huge disruption that industrial action has caused to patient care over the last ten months, health leaders will be cautiously optimistic about the government’s invitation to the BMA’s consultants committee to begin negotiations.

“While this development is a positive step in the right direction as it could signal an end to further walkouts from consultants, there is not yet cause for celebration. With the government and the junior doctors committee still at a standstill, and the results of the indicative ballot for SAS doctors imminent, the looming threat of further strikes facing the NHS remains.

“Health leaders will be hopeful that these talks with the consultants committee will resolve the concerns among senior doctors and then be used as a springboard for negotiations to begin with the junior doctors and other groups, so that we can find a way out of what has become a painful dispute, not least for patients.”