MOSCOW (Sputnik) — As many as 58 percent of England's junior doctors and medical students voted to reject the UK government's proposal after weeks of negotiations, the British Medical Association (BMA) said in a statement Tuesday.
A total of 42 percent voted in favor of the terms, according to the statement. The referendum, which ended on Friday, saw a 68-percent turnout.
The chair of the BMA junior doctors committee, Johann Malawana, resigned following the vote, stressing that his position was "untenable."
Malawana urged the government to accept and respect the referendum results, adding further talks were necessary to transition to the new contract, which has to address all doctors' concerns and deal with "considerable anger and mistrust towards the Government’s handling of this dispute."
UK Health Minister Jeremy Hunt announced plans in February 2016 to introduce a new employment contract for junior doctors under which doctors would be paid less for weekend shifts, sparking major protests in a number of English cities.
