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Starmer pleads with resident doctors to halt strike Starmer pleads with resident doctors to halt strike
(about 5 hours later)
Resident doctors, previously known as junior doctors, are set to strike for five days from FridayResident doctors, previously known as junior doctors, are set to strike for five days from Friday
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged resident doctors not to follow their union down the "damaging road" of strike action, which is due to begin on Friday.Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged resident doctors not to follow their union down the "damaging road" of strike action, which is due to begin on Friday.
Writing in the Times, Sir Keir said this would cause "huge loss for the NHS and the country," as he criticised the British Medical Association (BMA) for "rushing" into strikes.Writing in the Times, Sir Keir said this would cause "huge loss for the NHS and the country," as he criticised the British Medical Association (BMA) for "rushing" into strikes.
Resident doctors – the new term for junior doctors – are to start a five-day strike in England at 07:00 BST in a dispute over pay.Resident doctors – the new term for junior doctors – are to start a five-day strike in England at 07:00 BST in a dispute over pay.
The BMA has said it was "very sorry that strikes have become necessary" and they were "something that doctors don't want to have to do". The BMA said the government had had every opportunity to stop the walkout.
Talks between the BMA and the government broke down on Tuesday with the union saying it was unhappy ministers were refusing to address their pay concerns.
Sir Keir said the walkouts threatened "to turn back the clock on progress we have made in rebuilding the NHS over the last year".Sir Keir said the walkouts threatened "to turn back the clock on progress we have made in rebuilding the NHS over the last year".
From August this year, resident doctors will get pay rise of 5.4%, following a 22% increase over the previous two years. This year resident doctors are getting an average pay rise of 5.4%, following a 22% increase over the previous two years.
But the BMA said wages were still around 20% lower in real terms than in 2008, even after an increase in August.But the BMA said wages were still around 20% lower in real terms than in 2008, even after an increase in August.
The BMA wants pay to be brought back in line with the level it was 17 years ago, when they say their pay started to be eroded.The BMA wants pay to be brought back in line with the level it was 17 years ago, when they say their pay started to be eroded.
The prime minister's comments come after Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he deeply regretted the "position we now find ourselves in" in a letter to resident doctors on Thursday.The prime minister's comments come after Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he deeply regretted the "position we now find ourselves in" in a letter to resident doctors on Thursday.
He said the government could not afford to go further on pay, but he was "prepared to negotiate on areas related to your conditions at work and career progression".He said the government could not afford to go further on pay, but he was "prepared to negotiate on areas related to your conditions at work and career progression".
Streeting said the pay deal was "the highest pay award of the entire public sector for resident doctors".Streeting said the pay deal was "the highest pay award of the entire public sector for resident doctors".
He said that during a series of talks with BMA representatives this month he had outlined three areas he believed "we could work together to make real improvements". He said that during the talks he had been prepared to reduce the costs doctors in training face for exam fees equipment and food and drink as well as speeding up career progression.
This included tackling the "arduous" training, with him making clear he was prepared to agree actions to reduce costs.
He said improvement was needed on the cost of equipment, food and drink, and he "was prepared to explore how many further training posts could be created".
The strike is going ahead after talks between the government and the BMA broke down on Tuesday.
During five days of negotiations, the two sides discussed extra financial support for resident doctors to cover the cost of exam fees and equipment, as well as faster career progression.
The BMA asked for a scheme to help write off student loans, but the government rejected this.The BMA asked for a scheme to help write off student loans, but the government rejected this.
BMA leader Dr Tom Dolphin said: "We are very sorry that strikes have become necessary and of course if people have emergencies or need urgent care they should still present to the hospital or their GP as usual, as they always would. BMA resident doctor co-leaders Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt said: "Resident doctors are not worth less than they were 17 years ago. Restoring pay remains the simplest and most effective route toward improving our working lives.
"Striking is something that doctors don't want to have to do," he said, adding that the walkouts could have been avoided if "a real pathway" had been made on restoring the "lost value" of pay. "Mr Streeting had every opportunity to prevent this strike going ahead, but he chose not to take it."
He said the BMA was still open to further discussions about resolving the dispute.
Prof Tim Briggs, a national director at NHS England, said while doctors have a right to strike it should never lead to patient harm. However, NHS England and Streeting said they would be looking to limit the impact of the strike.
Senior doctors are being asked to provide cover, but Prof Briggs raised concerns about the impact it would have on both emergency and non-urgent care. Streeting said: "There is no getting around the fact that these strikes will hit the progress we are making on turning the NHS round but I am determined to keep disruption to patients to a minimum."
NHS England is aiming to keep the majority of non-urgent care, such as knee and hip operations, going during this strike, which marks a change in approach compared with previous industrial action when such treatment was cancelled en-masse. Senior doctors are being brought in to cover for resident doctors.
The BMA believed this approach was not safe – and said non-urgent care should be cancelled in many cases to ensure emergency services are better covered. In previous strikes, the focus has been on staffing emergency care - but this time the NHS wants to keep non-urgent services going as much as possible.
Resident doctors have been involved in 11 strikes in their long-running pay dispute, which have led to the cancellation of more than a million treatments and appointments. NHS England has told hospitals to only cancel routine care, such as hip and knee operations, in exceptional circumstance.
Prof Briggs told the BBC: "We know from the pandemic and the last strike that if you cancel those [non-urgent] patients many have been waiting a significant amount of time, those patients come to harm. Prof Meghana Pandit, of NHS England, said: "It's really important to reduce cancellations, because people have been waiting, sometimes for months for their routine hip replacement or hysterectomy or any appointment, and actually rescheduling the appointments impacts on them and leads to physical and psychological harm."
"You cannot decouple elective and emergency care, the two go together." Previous walkouts have led to mass cancellations with more than a million appointments and treatments cancelled during the resident doctor strikes which began in March 2023.
Then, some hospitals were only able to deliver half their normal amount of routine care on strike days.
But NHS sources said, this time, some hospitals were planning full schedules.
But Prof Pandit said it was inevitable there would be some disruption.
The BMA has written to NHS England to warn it is risking safety by spreading staff too thinly.
Meanwhile, NHS managers have also criticised what they say are inflated shift rates being requested by senior doctors to provide cover for striking resident doctors.Meanwhile, NHS managers have also criticised what they say are inflated shift rates being requested by senior doctors to provide cover for striking resident doctors.
Daniel Elkeles, of NHS Providers, which represents health managers, said the strike would be a "crushing blow" for patients.Daniel Elkeles, of NHS Providers, which represents health managers, said the strike would be a "crushing blow" for patients.
He said another "huge worry" was the cost, saying the BMA had recommended senior doctors ask for "inflated rates" that were "simply unaffordable".He said another "huge worry" was the cost, saying the BMA had recommended senior doctors ask for "inflated rates" that were "simply unaffordable".
The BMA had recommended senior doctors insist on premium rates that for consultants can exceed £300 an hour for night shifts.The BMA had recommended senior doctors insist on premium rates that for consultants can exceed £300 an hour for night shifts.
This can mean they can earn three times what they normally would.This can mean they can earn three times what they normally would.
The BMA said doctors needed to be incentivised to take on this extra work.The BMA said doctors needed to be incentivised to take on this extra work.