A JUNIOR doctor from Oxfordshire described the “collective gasp” heard at the High Court yesterday as a lawyer acting for the Department of Health said they had never been compelled to accept a new contract.

Rachel Clarke joined 100 of her peers for the second day of the hearing in London.

Justice for Health, a group founded by five junior doctors, has complained that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt acted beyond the scope of his powers by imposing a new contract on NHS employers.

Yesterday Barrister Clive Sheldon QC, who led Mr Hunt’s legal team, said Mr Hunt had not decided to “compel” NHS employers to use it but rather to approve it. He added: “The Secretary of State has always been clear about what his powers are.”

Dr Clarke said: “There was this involuntary, audible, collective gasp. If none of us believed he was imposing this contract why did he say it in multiple speeches, on TV and in parliamentary speeches? It was extraordinary.

“Apparently there’s no issue about him imposing this contract because he never intended to.”

Many NHS trusts including Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have already prepared the ground for doctors signing up to the new contract from October.

Mr Justice Green will analyse evidence from the two-day hearing in London and is expected to make a judgement on Wednesday, September 28.