Junior doctors strike: Jeremy Hunt tells ITV News he 'can't give assurance' that patients won't be at risk
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has told ITV News that he can't promise patients won't be at risk when junior doctors go on strike next month.
Speaking to ITV News at Ten presenter Tom Bradby, Hunt admitted he "can't give that assurance" when asked to pledge that no patients are going to be at risk but said work was being done "to make sure the NHS is safe for patients" on the proposed strike days.
He said: "What I can say is that now we've had the vote we'll be doing everything in our power to make sure the NHS is safe for patients on those three days."
Despite not being able to make direct promises over patient safety the health secretary did assure ITV News that "hospital by hospital" checks were being carried out to make sure arrangements were in place for strike days.
He said: "There is no bigger priority than to make sure hospitals are as safe as we can make them despite the absence of junior doctors on that day."
Watch the full Tom Bradby report here:
Hunt's comments came as he was interviewed after a decision was made by junior doctors to overwhelmingly vote in favour of strike action in a move that will see the first all out strike in NHS history.
Vote action was called as a reaction to Jeremy Hunt's plans to change hospital doctors' working contracts as part of a series of proposals to create a truly seven-day-a-week NHS.
Hunt has said the government "want to be able to promise NHS patients they will get the same high quality care every day of the week" through imposing a new contract on junior doctors but the medical staff it is affecting say "the new contracts are unsafe and unsustainable".
The first strike is planned for December 1 and will see junior doctors only provide emergency care, ahead of an all-out walkout from 8am to 5pm on both December 8 and 16.
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