BMA 'agree not to strike for a month', Wes Streeting tells LBC - but 'jury's out' on if there will be more

The Health Secretary claimed that both sides are trying to "work together and find resolution" to ongoing disputes.

The British Medical Association (BMA) confirmed last week it had agreed a "window" for negotiations - but it wasn't known how long that would be.

The Health Secretary said he "welcomed" the fact they were pulling back from the brink as a "step in the right direction" but admitted it "takes two to tango" in a negotiation.

Resident doctors walked out for five days at the end of last month over pay and conditions, despite pleas from the Prime Minister and Health Secretary to think again.

They are unhappy with their 5.4% pay rise, despite getting a far larger one of 22% increase over the previous two years.

Both sides were locked in talks in the days running up to the strike, leading to hopes of a deal, but the BMA announced they would go ahead anyway.

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Mr Streeting told LBC:

• He has "enormous sympathy" with striking doctors over their concerns
• He is confident there will be no wider strikes across the NHS - despite unhappiness from nurses over their pay offer
• There have been NO redundancies made to NHS England so far - six months after the announcement
• But he promises there will be the money to pay for it - despite a behind the scenes row

Mr Streeting had said he won't be able to offer a higher pay deal this year, saying it would be both unfair and unaffordable.

But he's offered a number of other concessions on working conditions, including help for equipment, exams, and promises to look at student funding, loans and their debts.

Mr Streeting told LBC on a visit to University College London Hospital on Monday: "I think it is extremely frustrating that we had five days of strike action.

"We were able to, thanks the brilliant work of frontline staff and NHS leaders, mitigate against some of that impact. And we had fewer procedures cancelled than in previous rounds of strike, but there's still an impact.

"So I sat down with the resident doctors last week. They've agreed to hold off strike action during the month of August so that we can see if we can work together and find resolution. Those discussions are ongoing and I welcome the fact that they're not going on strike this month.

"Ultimately it takes two to tango in a negotiation, but the fact that they are now willing to sit down and negotiate is a step in the right direction".

He said the "jury is out on where we'll get to by early September" and said there were many points of discussion.

But the BMA warned that if progress was not made in their window for negotiations, they could walk out again.

A BMA spokesperson said: "We've agreed a window for negotiations with the Government, which we hope they will use to make a credible offer on pay so that doctors don't have to go on strike again.

"Patients and doctors both deserve a resolution to this dispute sooner rather than later, and we urge Mr Streeting to grab the opportunity in front of him to rebuild the NHS workforce."

The Health Secretary said he was also meeting the GMB union to discuss ambulance crews today, Unison, and the Royal College of Nursing too.

When asked if we should expect strikes to spread, he said: "No, actually, I feel much more optimistic about the wider NHS workforce, about where we are on the risk of industrial action, not least because we're working constructively together to try and find ways to deliver real improvements to the lives of NHS staff that will also then deliver real improvements for patient care and experience, which is the thing that we all want.

"So, overall, I think we can move forward together."

He urged doctors to remember that he was responsible for the whole NHS workforce, not just them.

And he said that the public expected to deliver change in the NHS as soon as possible, adding: "This government came in with a wide range of enormous problems to deal with. And I think the public do cut the government some slack.

"I think they recognise what they're up against. And, you know, I'm asking, particularly the BMA, to just bear in mind that we've got so much that we want to achieve together in the NHS.

"Change does take time, and we've got a much better chance of success if we are genuinely working together rather than at loggerheads."

The Health Secretary also insisted that "work is well underway" to scrap NHS England - though to admitted that no one had yet been let go.

He insisted: "We're now looking through those, deciding which jobs we want to keep, which ones we can let go of. And we will be making progress over the coming months. We said we wanted to abolish the organisation and integrate it within the department within two years of the Prime Minister's announcement. And that's the timescale we're working to."

He brushed off claims in the newspapers that there was no funding available for the layoffs, amid claims the Treasury were refusing to pay for it.

But he was unable to say where the money would come from and when.

He said: "There clearly are upfront costs associated with redundancies, but there are also significant savings available.

"We are going to be making redundancies. They will obviously be funded and they will also generate more savings than they cost. And that's one of the reasons why we are doing this. We can see waste and inefficiency. We want to make sure taxpayers' money is better spent".