Junior doctor welcomes deal but says Jeremy Hunt's handling of dispute has 'decimated any trust I have in him'

Rachel Clarke said the ‘toxicity and the caustic nature’ of the dispute had ‘radicalised and enraged doctors’

Rachel Clarke said she was 'delighted' Jeremy Hunt had 'finally discovered the power of talk and negotiation' (Channel 4 News)

A junior doctor has welcomed a new deal to end the ongoing dispute but has said Jeremy Hunt's handling of the issue has "decimated any trust I have in him".

Rachel Clarke said she was "delighted" the Health Secretary had "finally discovered the power of talk and negotiation" but said it was a shame "that doesn't extend to him sitting face-to-face in public with a junior doctor like me".

Giving her verdict on the new deal on Channel 4 News, Ms Clarke said the 13-page contract "appears to be recognition of some of the very real concerns that have plagued junior doctors throughout this dispute".

However, she attacked Mr Hunt for his conduct during the bitter quarrel.

She said: "Jeremy Hunt, from the outside, attempted to portray this as a pay dispute centred on Saturday overtime and overtime alone, and that has never been what has driven doctors like me to strike.

"This has been about us having working terms and conditions to enable us to safely provide a meaningful standard of care to our patients and I think there have been real improvements in the contract to address that."

She went on to criticise Mr Hunt further, saying: "From the outset in this dispute, [Mr Hunt] has conducted himself in ways that have absolutely decimated any trust I have in him.

"He has manipulated statistics, he has lied on a number of occasions about supposed pay increases, he has sought to portray junior doctors as money grabbing individuals when that is the farthest thing from what motivates us."

The agreement, which is significantly different from the previous offer made by the Government in February, will now be put to a vote of the British Medical Association's junior doctors, to be held between June and July.

Ms Clarke praised the new contract for addressing the issue of rota gaps and protecting doctors who speak out about their concerns.

Discussing whether junior doctors will take further strike action if the new contract fails to address their concerns, she said: "I think that nine months ago probably there wasn't a doctor in the country who wanted to strike and unfortunately the toxicity and the caustic nature of the dispute since then is itself a thing that has radicalised doctors and so enraged us.

"Now we're in a situation where there is something meaningful on the table, but if doctors are not convinced that they can trust the Health Secretary and that this contract is going to really be fair - and crucially improve the safety of patients - then we are absolutely resolved still to strike because we have to put our patients first."

She added: "What matters is our patients and if this contract genuinely is an improvement on what we had before in February then I think doctors will vote for it.

"But we will assess the evidence very carefully in the ensuing days and weeks."