THE NHS crisis deepened yesterday as junior doctors said they were considering further strike action next month over Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s intention to force new “dangerous” contracts on them.

The junior doctors have rejected the proposed new contract on weekend working but Mr Hunt says he will force the contract on the doctors anyway.

Strikes took place between January and April, receiving widespread public support.

And Ellen McCourt, the new chair of the British Medical Association’s (BMA) junior doctors committee (JDC), said the union would consider new action unless Mr Hunt came to the negotiating table.

In a message to members, she said the BMA could not “stand idly by” as the date for imposition approached, and said that forcing a contract on doctors that they did not have confidence in would be bad for patients.