There is "palpable" distress among junior doctors in St George's Hospital, according to members of the trust's board.

Miles Scott, the chief executive of the trust, said the new contract being imposed on doctors by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt had caused a "huge amount of discontent" in the workforce.

He said: "It [the contract imposition] is having a big impact on morale.

"The distress is palpable and genuine.

"It is an issue for us."

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Mr Scott reassured the board, at a meeting on March 3, that the hospital had been and was prepared for industrial action.

As St George's is a foundation trust, it has the option to implement its own contracts but Mr Scott said there would be no move to do that before the national agenda was clearer.

Simon Mackenzie, medical director, said: "Whatever contract junior doctors end up working under, we are committed to patient safety.

"There is no doubt that the consequence of the contracts and the decision to impose them will be adverse on morale for a long time."

The doctors' union, the British Medical Association (BMA) has begun the process of calling for a judicial review of the imposition and plan more strikes.

The next one is from 8am on Wednesday, March 9 to 8am on Friday, March 11, when only emergency care will be provided.

About half of staff in St George's Hospital would recommend their friends work in the trust, according to figures released in the latest staff survey.

Employees were asked if they would recommend the trust as a place of work, and 55 per cent said they would, down from 62 per cent in 2014.

Staff were asked if they believed care of patients was the trust's top priority, and 71 per cent agreed it was, down from 74 per cent in 2014.

Fewer staff believed the trust acts on concerns of patients, with 68 per cent agreeing it does compared with 74 per cent in 2014.

The trust has a lower-than-average engagement rate with its staff, scoring 3.72 points out of a possible five, 0.07 lower than the national average for similar sized trusts.

Other figures in the report show the majority of staff feel under pressure to come into work when they are ill, with 57 per cent admitting this.

The trust scored slightly above average for its staff perception of the quality of non-mandatory training and appraisals, scoring 4.05 out of five, and 3.04 out of five, respectively, 0.01 above the national average.