THE loss of trust between doctors and Tory ministers is the “worst it has been for at least three decades,” the British Medical Association (BMA) has warned.

In a damning intervention ahead of the 75^th birthday of the NHS on Wednesday, the union’s council chairman Dr Phil Banfield stressed that he has never known such a breakdown of trust in his 30 years as a medic.

It is an “absolute travesty” that doctors feel they have no other choice but to strike following more than a decade of plummeting take-home pay, he added.

The warning came as junior doctors prepare to stage the biggest walkout in the history of the health service between July 13 and 18.

And consultants — the most senior doctors in the NHS — will stage industrial action on July 20 and 21, providing only scaled-back “Christmas Day cover.”

Dr Banfield swatted away accusations from Health Secretary Steve Barclay that junior doctors had “suddenly walked away” from talks, saying the government’s precondition to not get round the table when strikes are planned is a “completely artificial red line.”

He warned the workforce could strike “to the next general election — and beyond” and repeated calls for Westminster to enter negotiations through conciliation service Acas.

“The loss of trust that has happened between this government and the medical profession I’ve never seen before,” he said.

“We’ve asked for multiple meetings and because of the dispute, they have been declined. It’s really sad for the NHS to be in this state.

“It is a complete fallacy that to solve the doctors dispute is unaffordable — it costs more to not fix it than to fix it.

“It is an absolute travesty that we’re in the position where doctors feel that there is no alternative but to strike.”

Dr Banfield accused ministers of taking an “enormously long time to engage and when they have, it’s been for the briefest of moments and it hasn’t felt like they have a genuine interest in settling the dispute.”

Asked if consultants would conduct a string of strikes, as seen with junior doctors, he said: “Consultants are taking this one step at a time because the whole point of taking industrial action is to get into the negotiating room to solve the issue and consultants are very keen to do this.

“It is possible for this government to fix this and it’s possible to do it really before the next industrial action takes place.”

Dr Banfield is set to tell delegates at the union’s annual conference, which kicks off in Liverpool tomorrow, that ministers are “investing in the future of the Australian workforce” as doctors seek better paid work oversees.

He will also commit the union to doing more to support whistle-blowers and those being bullied in the workplace.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We hugely value the work of junior doctors and NHS consultants.

“We’ve been engaging with both the BMA junior doctors committee and BMA consultants committee on their concerns and it is disappointing that members have voted for strike action.

“We stand ready to open talks again — we urge them to come to the negotiating table rather than proceeding with their proposed strike dates.”