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The Guardian
2 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Hopes of averting doctors' strike after ‘constructive' meeting with Streeting
Hopes are rising that next week's strike by resident doctors in England will be called off after their leaders had a 'constructive' meeting with the health secretary and agreed to hold further talks. The co-chairs of the British Medical Association's resident doctors committee met Wes Streeting for 90 minutes – longer than the hour they had planned – in Westminster on Thursday afternoon. 'We had a constructive conversation with the BMA today and we'll be having further conversations in the coming days to try to avoid strike action', Streeting said. He urged co-chairs Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt to abandon the doctors' union's plan for the 55,000 resident – formerly junior – doctors it represents to strike from 7am next Friday, 25 July, regardless of the outcome of their next set of talks. It is unclear when they will happen. He is keen to avoid a renewal of the industrial action over pay during which resident doctors hold 11 strikes, totalling 44 days, during 2023 and 2024. Those strikes, and action by other NHS staff, forced the health service to cancel about 1.5m appointments and cost it an estimated £1.5bn. The BMA has been seeking a 29% rise for resident doctors – a demand Streeting has called 'completely unreasonable' after he gave them a 22% rise last year for 2023/24 and 2024/25. However, today's talks focused on other issues relating to resident doctors' working lives, as Streeting has refused to reopen negotiations on the 5.4% pay award for 2025/26 that he has imposed on them. 'While we cannot move on pay after a 28.9% pay rise [over the last three years], we are working on areas where we can improve working lives for resident doctors. 'Strikes have a serious cost for patients, so I am appealing to the BMA to call them off and instead work together to improve their members' working conditions and continue rebuilding the NHS,' he added. Streeting is keen to strike a deal with the BMA that would give it enough reasons to call off the strike but without compromising his refusal to give resident doctors more money this year. The Guardian disclosed on Thursday that he is considering offering doctors a new system of 'forgiveness' of the student loans built up at medical school, which can be as much as £100,000, as a way of putting more money in their pockets without big annual pay rises. Hospitals have begun rescheduling outpatient appointments and operations that were due to take place during 25-30 July and arranging for senior (consultant) doctors to cover shifts left vacant by striking colleagues. Resident doctors staged 44 days of stoppages during 2023 and 2024. However, Nieuwoudt warned that there was only a limited opportunity for the talks with Streeting to bear fruit after their 'productive' encounter. 'We have a very small window of opportunity over the next few days to avert strike action,' he said after the meeting. Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion 'Talks today have been constructive. They're a first step. It was a very high-level discussion. We're looking forward to more discussions to hopefully avert strike action. No one wants strikes: patients don't want strikes, we don't want strikes and the government doesn't want strikes. 'So hopefully the next few days will be very, very useful.' Asked for the deadline to avoid strike action, Nieuwoudt said: 'Not long, so time is not our friend at the moment. We have precious, precious few days in order to make sufficient progress in order to avert strike action. Hopefully we can meet at a pace that is sufficient and reasonable.' In a recent exchange of letters, Streeting told Ryan and Nieuwoudt that while not budging on this year's 5.4% rise, he would make other, non-pay-related improvements to their working lives. That includes creating more places for trainees to start training in their chosen branch of medicine and making rotational training – during which early career doctors work in several hospitals – less disruptive. In their reply they emphasised their willingness to meet and talk. But they said there had not been enough progress under Labour on issues such as the NHS's shortage of places for doctors in training to embark on their specialist training and a new system of 'exception reporting' of patient safety incidents.
Daily Mirror
09-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Patients face NHS chaos as junior doctors announce exact date of strikes
Resident doctors will strike for five days from 7am on July 25 to 7am on July 30, the British Medical Association has announced. The band of medics - previously known as junior doctors - have demanded Health Secretary Wes Streeting come to the negotiating table "in the next two weeks" to avoid major disruption. In a statement, BMA resident doctors committee co-chairs Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt said: "We met Wes Streeting yesterday and made every attempt to avoid strike action by opening negotiations for pay restoration. Unfortunately, the Government has stated that it will not negotiate on pay, wanting to focus on non-pay elements without suggesting what these might be. Without a credible offer to keep us on the path to restore our pay, we have no choice but to call strikes. "No doctor wants to strike, and these strikes don't have to go ahead. If Mr Streeting can seriously come to the table in the next two weeks we can ensure that no disruption is caused. The Government knows what is needed to avert strikes. The choice is theirs." We'll be bringing you the latest updates on this Breaking Politics News story. Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you by following The Mirror every time you see our name. You can sign up for Twitter alerts for breaking news here @MirrorBreaking_ and follow us for all the latest updates. Keep up-to-date with your must-see news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day by following us on Facebook at . See all our social accounts you can follow here:
South Wales Guardian
09-07-2025
- Health
- South Wales Guardian
Public ‘will not forgive' strike action by resident doctors, says Streeting
It comes after a British Medical Association (BMA) ballot in which resident doctors in England, formerly known as junior doctors, voted to strike over pay, giving them a mandate for action until January 2026. The Health Secretary wrote in The Times that walkouts would be a 'disaster' for BMA members and patients, saying the Government 'can't afford' pay rises. He said: 'I urge the BMA, even at this late stage, to reconsider this deeply damaging course of action. 'Work with a government that actually wants to work with you: to improve working conditions for staff and care for patients. 'The public will not forgive strike action in these circumstances and nor will I.' Some 90% of voting resident doctors backed strike action, with the BMA reporting a turnout of 55%. The union has said that resident doctors need a pay uplift of 29.2% to reverse 'pay erosion' since 2008/09. BMA resident doctors committee co-chairs Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt said: 'All we need is a credible pay offer and nobody need strike. 'Doctors don't take industrial action lightly – but they know it is preferable to watching their profession wither away. 'The next move is the Government's.' A Number 10 spokesman said: 'We aren't going to reopen negotiations on pay. 'Resident doctors have received the highest pay award across the public sector for two years in a row, and we've been clear that we can't be more generous than we already have this year.' Previous strikes by resident doctors and other staff groups saw some 1.5 million appointments, procedures and operations postponed as a result. The waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England is currently at its lowest level for two years, according to the latest figures, with an estimated 7.39 million treatments waiting to be carried out at the end of April. Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, which is part of the NHS Confederation, said: 'Further strikes are the last thing health leaders wanted and could result in tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of operations and procedures being delayed or cancelled, leaving patients in pain or discomfort.' Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: 'A return to industrial action would be a huge setback – bad for patients, for staff and for the NHS.' In September, BMA members voted to accept a Government pay deal worth 22.3% on average over two years. And the 2025/26 pay deal saw resident doctors given a 4% uplift plus £750 'on a consolidated basis' – working out as an average pay rise of 5.4%. The BMA call for a 29.2% uplift is based on Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation, the measure of average changes in the price of goods and services used by most households.
Glasgow Times
09-07-2025
- Health
- Glasgow Times
Public ‘will not forgive' strike action by resident doctors, says Streeting
It comes after a British Medical Association (BMA) ballot in which resident doctors in England, formerly known as junior doctors, voted to strike over pay, giving them a mandate for action until January 2026. The Health Secretary wrote in The Times that walkouts would be a 'disaster' for BMA members and patients, saying the Government 'can't afford' pay rises. He said: 'I urge the BMA, even at this late stage, to reconsider this deeply damaging course of action. 'Work with a government that actually wants to work with you: to improve working conditions for staff and care for patients. 'The public will not forgive strike action in these circumstances and nor will I.' Some 90% of voting resident doctors backed strike action, with the BMA reporting a turnout of 55%. The union has said that resident doctors need a pay uplift of 29.2% to reverse 'pay erosion' since 2008/09. BMA resident doctors committee co-chairs Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt said: 'All we need is a credible pay offer and nobody need strike. 'Doctors don't take industrial action lightly – but they know it is preferable to watching their profession wither away. 'The next move is the Government's.' A Number 10 spokesman said: 'We aren't going to reopen negotiations on pay. 'Resident doctors have received the highest pay award across the public sector for two years in a row, and we've been clear that we can't be more generous than we already have this year.' Previous strikes by resident doctors and other staff groups saw some 1.5 million appointments, procedures and operations postponed as a result. The waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England is currently at its lowest level for two years, according to the latest figures, with an estimated 7.39 million treatments waiting to be carried out at the end of April. Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, which is part of the NHS Confederation, said: 'Further strikes are the last thing health leaders wanted and could result in tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of operations and procedures being delayed or cancelled, leaving patients in pain or discomfort.' Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: 'A return to industrial action would be a huge setback – bad for patients, for staff and for the NHS.' In September, BMA members voted to accept a Government pay deal worth 22.3% on average over two years. And the 2025/26 pay deal saw resident doctors given a 4% uplift plus £750 'on a consolidated basis' – working out as an average pay rise of 5.4%. The BMA call for a 29.2% uplift is based on Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation, the measure of average changes in the price of goods and services used by most households.
Powys County Times
09-07-2025
- Health
- Powys County Times
Public ‘will not forgive' strike action by resident doctors, says Streeting
Wes Streeting has warned that the public 'will not forgive' strike action by resident doctors. It comes after a British Medical Association (BMA) ballot in which resident doctors in England, formerly known as junior doctors, voted to strike over pay, giving them a mandate for action until January 2026. The Health Secretary wrote in The Times that walkouts would be a 'disaster' for BMA members and patients, saying the Government 'can't afford' pay rises. He said: 'I urge the BMA, even at this late stage, to reconsider this deeply damaging course of action. 'Work with a government that actually wants to work with you: to improve working conditions for staff and care for patients. 'The public will not forgive strike action in these circumstances and nor will I.' Some 90% of voting resident doctors backed strike action, with the BMA reporting a turnout of 55%. The union has said that resident doctors need a pay uplift of 29.2% to reverse 'pay erosion' since 2008/09. BMA resident doctors committee co-chairs Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt said: 'All we need is a credible pay offer and nobody need strike. 'Doctors don't take industrial action lightly – but they know it is preferable to watching their profession wither away. 'The next move is the Government's.' A Number 10 spokesman said: 'We aren't going to reopen negotiations on pay. 'Resident doctors have received the highest pay award across the public sector for two years in a row, and we've been clear that we can't be more generous than we already have this year.' Previous strikes by resident doctors and other staff groups saw some 1.5 million appointments, procedures and operations postponed as a result. The waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England is currently at its lowest level for two years, according to the latest figures, with an estimated 7.39 million treatments waiting to be carried out at the end of April. Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, which is part of the NHS Confederation, said: 'Further strikes are the last thing health leaders wanted and could result in tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of operations and procedures being delayed or cancelled, leaving patients in pain or discomfort.' Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: 'A return to industrial action would be a huge setback – bad for patients, for staff and for the NHS.' In September, BMA members voted to accept a Government pay deal worth 22.3% on average over two years. And the 2025/26 pay deal saw resident doctors given a 4% uplift plus £750 'on a consolidated basis' – working out as an average pay rise of 5.4%. The BMA call for a 29.2% uplift is based on Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation, the measure of average changes in the price of goods and services used by most households.
