With record accident and emergency waiting times, continuous breaches of two-week wait requirement for cancer patients and NHS trust throughout the country experiencing record deficits – our NHS is not only broken, but in a state of disrepair. The Conservative record on the NHS is appalling, and over the last few months the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has been attempting to force through a new contract for junior doctors which is not only unfair but not safe for the public.

The British Medical Association has been in negotiations with the government over Christmas and new year, in particular trying address concerns over contractual safeguards for safe working and a recognition for doctors working unsocial hours.

Our concerns are centred around the fact that the new contracts reclassify what it currently means to work unsociable hours. At the moment sociable working hours for doctors are classed as 7am-7pm Monday to Friday. However, the government wants to extend what is considered sociable to 7am-10pm Monday to Saturday. This would extend what is considered as normal working week from 60 hours per week to 90 hours.

This change in working hours will potentially have a negative effect on the quality of care provided in the NHS. Longer hours will lead to more exhausted, overworked doctors and without an increase in the number of doctors working in the NHS could lead to staff shortages which will affect patient safety. In addition to this junior doctors will not be compensated for working extra antisocial hours, potentially losing up to 30 per cent of our salary.

Heidi Alexander, our excellent shadow health secretary, has worked to hold Hunt to account, placing pressure on the government to negotiate in good faith. The BMA has repeatedly urged the government not to impose the contacts unilaterally, and in December last year threatened strike action which brought Hunt back to the negotiating table.

Despite the BMA negotiating in good faith, the government is not taking the concerns of junior doctors on board. We doctors do not want to strike; we enjoy our job and are committed to our patients and profession. However, we cannot put patient safety at risk; therefore we have no option but to strike. The BMA has given notice to the government of industrial action by junior doctors for next Tuesday 12 January. I will be on strike, not because I want to but out of necessity, because patient safety and the future of our NHS is at stake.

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Martin Edobor is chair of the Young Fabians and a junior doctor. He tweets @MartinEdobor

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Photo: roxeteer