FURIOUS junior doctors in Hampshire have vowed to fight imposition of controversial contracts overhauling their pay and working conditions.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt forced through the new deal just hours after thousands of medics returned to work following the second wave of strikes against his proposals.

Now the county’s junior doctors have accused him of “gambling” with patients’ lives – joining thousands of colleagues refusing to accept new working conditions they claim are “unsafe” and “unfair”.

It comes as the British Medical Association (BMA) decides whether to launch fresh industrial action in protest of new contracts being imposed to provide more NHS services seven says a week.

Patient groups fear the dispute will lead to more uncertainty for hundreds of patients who have already seen operations and clinics rearranged.

But Mr Hunt has defended his actions as a “decisive step” to improve the NHS and has criticised the BMA for failing to meet concessions he has made.

Under the new contract, 7am to 5pm on Saturdays will be regarded as a normal working day, but doctors working one in four or more Saturdays will receive a pay premium of 30 per cent.

Mr Hunt is offsetting this with an increase of 13.5 per cent in basic salary compared to the proposed 11 per cent the BMA wanted to halve to protect premium pay for weekends.

No doctor working contracted hours would see a pay cut while too many night shifts and long shifts will also be limited, he says.

But junior doctor Anastasia Theodosiou from Southampton General Hospital acute medicine unit says the new deal “gambles” with patients’ lives because doctors will be overworked and units understaffed. and added: “The contracts are unsafe, unfair and dangerous and it’s going to cause a mass exodus of doctors. We are not going to give up. All today has done has galvanised doctors to be more united.”

Cathy Paget of the Wessex Industrial Action committee, who works in Southampton hospital’s A&E department said: “Forcing something through is never a good idea. This has been about what is right for our patients enabling us to treat them in a safe environment and in a job that is sustainable and compatible with family life. I am profoundly worried about the future of the NHS.”

Harry Dymond, chairman of Healthwatch Southampton, said: “The uncertainty means things aren’t clear. The sooner we get some clarity the better. I hope whatever decision is being made they are mindful of the needs of patients.”

But speaking in Parliament yesterday Mr Hunt said: “This process has generated considerable dismay among junior doctors. It’s one that in time can command confidence both for the workforce and their employers.

“No government of health secretary can responsibly ignore the evidence that hospital mortality rates are higher on the weekend and evidence that standard of care on the weekend is lower.”

But Dr Johann Malawana, BMA junior doctor committee chair, refused to accept the contracts, adding: “Junior doctors already work around the clock, seven days a week and they do so under their existing contract. If the Government want more seven-day services then, quite simply, it needs more doctors, nurses and diagnostic staff, and the extra investment needed to deliver it.”