𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Resident doctors in England will go on strike this week after the Government failed to make an offer to “meet the scale” of the challenges felt by medics, the British Medical Association (BMA) has said.

Confirmation of the industrial action followed crunch talks between the union and the Health Secretary last week.

After the meeting, Wes Streeting reiterated that “we cannot move on pay after a 28.9% pay rise” but added that the Government was looking at ways to improve resident doctors’ working lives.

The BMA resident doctors committee said while members were happy to discuss non-pay issues, the row “is at its core a pay dispute”.

Strikes will take place for five consecutive days from 7am on Friday July 25.

Health leaders described the move as a “crushing blow” for patients and the NHS.

Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, co-chairs of the BMA’s resident doctors committee, said: “We have always said that no doctor wants to strike and all it would take to avoid it is a credible path to pay restoration offered by the Government.

“We came to talks in good faith, keen to explore real solutions to the problems facing resident doctors today.

“Unfortunately, we did not receive an offer that would meet the scale of those challenges.

“While we were happy to discuss non-pay issues that affect doctors’ finances we have always been upfront that this is at its core a pay dispute.

“The simplest and most direct means of restoring the more than a fifth of our pay that has eroded since 2008 is to raise our pay.

“While we were keen to discuss other items, it was made very clear by the Government that this obvious course of action was going to remain off the table.”

The statement added that “student debt and the cost of training remain crushing burdens on the finances of resident doctors” and while the BMA hoped there would be “new ideas” to tackle this, what was proposed “would not have been significant enough to change the day-to-day financial situation for our members”.

“However our door remains open, and we are glad to have met with the Secretary of State in a constructive spirit. We want to keep talking but we don’t accept we can’t talk about pay,” they said.

Reacting to the BMA’s announcement, Mr Streeting said there was an opportunity for the union “to work with us on a range of options that would have made a real difference to resident doctors’ working conditions and created extra roles to deal with the bottlenecks that hold back their career progression”.

“Instead, they have recklessly and needlessly opted for strike action.

“The BMA would have lost nothing by taking up the offer to postpone strike action to negotiate a package that would improve the working lives of resident doctors.

“By refusing to do so, they will cause unnecessary disruption to patients, put additional pressure on their NHS colleagues and not take the opportunity to improve their own working conditions.

“All of my attention will be now on averting harm to patients and supporting NHS staff at work.

“After a 28.9% pay hike in the last three years and the highest pay rise in the public sector two years in a row, strike action is completely unjustified, completely unprecedented in the history of British trade unionism and shows a complete disdain for patients and the wider recovery of the NHS.“

It came after research suggested public support for the strike is waning.

A YouGov poll showed about half (52%) of people in the UK “somewhat oppose” (20%) or “strongly oppose” (32%) resident doctors going on strike over pay.

A third (34%) of the 4,954 adults surveyed either “somewhat support” (23%) or “strongly support” (11%) doctor strikes.

YouGov said the proportion supporting the strike over pay has dropped five points since it last asked the question in May, when 48% opposed the strikes and 39% supported them.

Daniel Elkeles chief executive of NHS Providers, said the decision for strikes to go ahead “is a crushing blow for patients and for the NHS”.

“Trusts have been holding off cancellations while there was the realistic prospect of a breakthrough,” he said.

“They will now be doing all they can to ensure there are fewer – and in some cases many fewer – cancellations than last time.

“Safety is paramount, so unfortunately there will be some disruption for patients because of the need to provide cover.

“We urge resident doctors to help trusts minimise the harm by notifying them of their plans for strike days.

“For example we must ensure that there are enough staff for all the cancer, transplant and maternity care that cannot and must not be delayed.

“Another huge worry is the cost. It is vital that consultants providing cover take NHS rates of pay rather than insisting on inflated BMA rates that are simply unaffordable.

“All avenues for discussion should be exhausted before turning to strikes.

“We say to the BMA ‘think again’ and pull back from this hugely damaging decision.”

Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS England’s co-national medical director (secondary care), said: “This new round of strikes by resident doctors will no doubt be incredibly challenging for the NHS, and while local services are working extremely hard to minimise the impact for patients, as they always do, some disruption to services is inevitable.

“We urge the BMA to work with NHS England and local trust medical directors and leaders to minimise the impact their actions have on essential care.

“It is vital that people do not put off seeking care and come forward for treatment – using 111 online for non-life threatening care, as well as local pharmacies or general practice, or dialling 999 in a life-threatening emergency.”