The leader of the junior doctors has said he is determined to find common ground as the contract negotiations with government continue. 

Junior doctors have been on strike several times in the last year over contracts they have called "unsafe", saying patient care is at risk if the government pushes ahead with contracts.

May 11: Junior doctors at Croydon University Hospital hopeful fresh talks will result in 'safe and fair' contract

April 26: Full walkout: Junior doctors on the picket line at St George's Hospital in first ever all out strike​

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt "imposed" the contracts but negotiations have started again after he was told he could not force the contracts through.

The leader of the junior doctors in the British Medical Association (BMA), Dr Johann Malawana told the BMA's junior doctors conference that no agreement has been reached, but said a more conciliatory tone had been struck.

He told the conference in London: "Our attitude in these negotiations has been not to trade grievances but to resolve them.

"Our aim has been to rediscover the common ground that is so great but so easily neglected - the shared interest of everyone in the health service to improve care for our patients.

"The temptation has been to relive the resentments, which are many, but instead we have tried to rediscover the opportunities."

St George's Hospital's former chief executive admitted that morale was at an all time low earlier this year because of the strikes. 

Doctors have threatened to quit and move abroad to practice medicine if the contracts are imposed.

Dr Malawana said: "We have been arguing for 300 days about issues which have damaged junior doctors' morale and the quality of patient care for much longer than that, and would continue to do so.

"It's not the 300 days, but these days that matter now. We're talking. They're listening. We're listening too.

"If this were a movie, I'd now pull out a large envelope with the word 'deal' written on it. We're not there, and I can't even add the word 'yet' to the end of that sentence."

The negotiations, sponsored by the conciliation and mediation service Acas, are set to resume on Monday.

The BMA has said any deal would need to be put before junior doctors in a ballot, which could take several weeks.

If the talks fail, the Government has indicated it will push ahead with the imposition of the contract.

Last week, the department of health released this statement: "We look forward to the talks starting tomorrow, which will be held under the auspices of Acas - and the Secretary of State will suspend the introduction of the new contract for a five-day period to facilitate this.

"We are very pleased that Sir David Dalton, a highly respected independent NHS leader, will be returning to lead the Government's negotiating team on the small number of outstanding issues that separated both parties in February."