THE county's junior doctors have been left distraught after Ministers announced today they will impose a controversial new contract on them.

The bolt-from-blue decision from Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt follows the second 24-hour strike by junior doctors in two months.

Mr Hunt told the House of Commons "he had no choice" but to impose the new contract after talks with the British Medical Association (BMA) broke down this week.

But Dr Rachel Clarke said the profession has been left "demoralised and distraught" by the decision.

She added: "Although we expected this, that didn't prepare us for how absolutely demoralised and distraught we felt.

"I don't think the government have any idea how well they have undermined and demoralised us by trying to ram this through.

"We feel battered by them, stamped on by them."

Dr Clarke, who works at the county's hospitals, warned that imposing the new contract could drive away a whole generation of junior doctors.

She said that as well as further industrial action, Mr Hunt's announcement has already prompted some of her colleagues to say they will resign rather than sign the new contract.

Dr Clarke added: "Imposing this new contract is going to drive junior doctors out of the NHS.

"It's an absolute tragedy, it's so harmful for patients, for the NHS and in the long term.

"We should be trying to build the morale of junior doctors, not stamping on them so hard they feel they have no alternative but to leave."

More than 37,000 junior doctors across the country – including 2,000 in the Thames Valley – voted in favour of industrial action last year, although a planned strike in December was halted the day before when talks reopened.

Junior doctors walked out on strike yesterday for the second time since January, with more than 100 protesting the proposed new contract outside the John Radcliffe Hospital.

The row centred around Mr Hunt’s proposals to impose a new contract on junior doctors as part of plans to create more 24/7 services.

But the British Medical Association (BMA) said the new contract was unsafe for staff and patients because it will stretch limited resources more thinly across the NHS.

Mr Hunt told MPs that the BMA had refused to compromise in the discussion over the new contract.

He said: "While I understand that this process has generated considerable dismay among junior doctors, I believe that the new contract we are introducing is one that, in time, can command the confidence of both the workforce and their employers."