Health leaders expressed alarm, warning the five-day walkout would jeopardise all efforts to tackle the record waiting list and push other services to "breaking point".
The development will add to the pressure on Rishi Sunak, who has been accused of holding up a deal over pay, to urgently resolve the row.
"I think the public will be frustrated, bordering on angry, now with the prime minister for letting this drag on for so long," Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, said yesterday after talks between the union and the government broke down again.
Ministers, health officials and representatives from the British Medical Association (BMA) had been locked in negotiations for weeks since last month's record six-day walkout. But the Guardian understands a meeting on Thursday between Victoria Atkins, the health secretary, and the BMA resulted in another standoff.
The BMA said the government had "failed to meet the deadline to put an improved pay offer on the table" and announced another five days of strikes this month. It will be the 10th time junior doctors have held industrial action since March last year.
This story is from the February 10, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the February 10, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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