A spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said deals with other health care workers’ unions showed that the striking junior doctors were “outliers.”

“We have sought to come to a fair resolution – fair for the taxpayer, fair for hard-working doctors and health workers. We have achieved that in the majority of cases … we are willing to have further discussions. But obviously the first thing to do is to stop striking,” he told reporters.

The BMA said a record waiting list and underinvestment over the past decade had undermined the NHS.

“As a profession we are exhausted, disenchanted, and questioning whether we want to stay in the health service at all. Add to this years of pay erosion, and it’s no wonder that morale on the front line has never been lower,” the union said.