‘Own the damage it will do to patients’: Wes Streeting berates resident doctors over strike after they received 29% pay rise
Health Secretary angrily hits back at resident doctor who claimed he ‘didn’t want to be on strike,’ telling him: “Own the damage it will do to patients”. He also accused their union of ‘cartel-like’ behaviour
Wes Streeting has berated resident doctors for striking, calling the action "completely unnecessary" and describing their union as 'cartel-like'.
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Taking calls on LBC, the Health Secretary told caller Niraj, from Harrow, who is a resident doctor, that he doesn't accept the claim that striking resident doctors don't want to be taking the action.
Niraj told Mr Streeting: "Of course we all care about patient safety. None of us wants to be on strike. I would rather be at work today."
Mr Streeting passionately and strongly rebutted the claim telling the doctor: "On pay, on specialty training places, on improvements to conditions, I have been working to address every single one of those issues.
"These are not the conditions in which people go out on strike. Strike should be a last resort.
"And I'm sorry, but when you say I don't want to be out on strike today. Yes, you do, because you have made that choice."
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Mr Streeting noted that resident doctors have had a 28.9% pay rise, the highest in the public sector two years in a row.
He accused doctors of "holding patients to ransom" and setting the NHS back.
He said: "To be out on strike setting back the NHS because you don't think we're going fast enough and because the leadership of your union are not honest enough. That some of this change takes time is extremely irresponsible.
"It is extremely unnecessary."
"So don't tell me you don't want to be out on strike because that's exactly where you are. You made that choice. Own it and own the damage it will do to your patients," he added.
Mr Streeting also accused the union the BMA of ‘reprehensible’ and ‘cartel-like’ behaviour.
He said he doesn’t believe the BMA represents its members and is now representing a group of ‘activists’.
“It is no longer a professional association, and it is engaged in cartel-like behaviour," he added.
Niraj had confronted the health secretary about whether he values the work of resident doctors, asking: "Why should we take you seriously when the proposals that you've put forward to end industrial action are simply what anybody would expect from a reasonable employer? And that should already be in place.
"Things like funding our mandatory exams and portfolio and college fees and ensuring that there are enough training places to make sure that the public have enough consultants in the future.
"So all of those things, in my opinion, should already be in place. They shouldn't be a bargaining chip to try to end this dispute."
Mr Streeting admitted that "things aren't good enough for resident doctors", but said they have taken steps to bring froward training places, and settled previous demands for a pay rise.
Thousands of resident doctors go on strike across England on Friday in a dispute over pay, the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, which represent health trusts, said continued action was piling pressure on already-stretched budgets.
The five-day action is the 13th walkout by doctors since March 2023, with the last strike in July estimated to have cost the health service £300 million.
Resident doctors make up around half the medical workforce in the NHS and have up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor or three years as a GP.
NHS Confederation and NHS Providers said that if the NHS continues to have to foot the bill from strikes, it could lead to staff being cut and fewer tests, appointments and operations being carried out.
The strike comes as polling in The Times suggested 48% of resident doctors wanted the action called off, and only 33% thought it should go ahead.