TV doctor Robert Winston quits BMA over ‘damaging’ strikes
A TV doctor and IVF pioneer has resigned from the British Medical Association (BMA) over planned strike action by resident doctors.
Listen to this article
Professor Robert Winston, a Labour peer who became a household name through his documentaries on child development, said the “highly dangerous” walkout could harm people’s trust in the profession.
Prof Winston, 84, who has been a member of the union since he qualified as a doctor more than 60 years ago, said he resigned from the BMA on Thursday.
Earlier this week, the BMA announced that resident doctors, formerly junior doctors, in England would walk out for five consecutive days from 7am on July 25, in a dispute over pay.
Prof Winston said: “I’ve paid my membership for a long time. I feel very strongly that this isn’t the time to be striking. I think that the country is really struggling in all sorts of ways, people are struggling in all sorts of ways."
Read more: Abandon strikes or risk ‘fragile’ NHS recovery, Streeting warns resident doctors
“Strike action completely ignores the vulnerability of people in front of you," he told The Times.
He urged the union to reconsider, saying it is “important that doctors consider their own responsibility much more seriously”, and stressed that the walkout could cause “long-term damage” to people’s faith in doctors.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting called for resident doctors to “abandon their unreasonable rush to strike” and said that NHS recovery is “fragile”.
Mr Streeting told the Commons on Thursday: “We have put the NHS on the road to recovery, but we all know that the NHS is still hanging by a thread, and that the BMA is threatening to pull it.”
Taking calls on LBC, Mr Streeting described the strikes as "the last thing" the NHS needs and urged them to hit pause on their action.
He said the walkouts risk undermining work the government has done to improve the health service, with waiting lists down and more people being seen.
Speaking with Shelagh Fogarty, the Health Secretary said he'd be up for a "discussion" about pension pots compared to take home pay.
The BMA has been contacted for comment.