In a judgment published on Wednesday, Mr Justice Green rejected arguments presented at the high court by five junior doctors that the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, had exceeded his powers. Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents trusts, said: “Junior doctors have raised a number of legitimate concerns that still need to be addressed and NHS trusts will be working hard with their junior doctors to do so. Dr Ellen McCourt, BMA junior doctor committee chair, said the concerns of junior doctors still needed to be addressed before the contract comes into effect. “This ruling will do nothing to address the fact that morale among junior doctors is at an all-time low. “The secretary of state has been clear about what his powers are.”The five doctors’ high court legal challenge was crowdfunded by £300,000 from about 10,000 donors, most of them fellow junior doctors.

Source: The Guardian September 28, 2016 11:39 UTC