Wes Streeting issues fresh warning after doctors announce major strike action

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said he will not give up trying to stop "needless strike action” announced by resident doctors.

The Cabinet ministers tried to reassure worried patients after the band of medics - previously known as junior doctors - yesterday said they will strike for five days from July 25. The British Medical Association, the union representing resident doctors, demanded Mr Streeting come to the negotiating table "in the next two weeks" to avoid major disruption.

NHS leaders warned the strike action could trigger chaos for patients who face having their appointments cancelled or delayed.

Mr Streeting has refused to reopen the door on pay negotiations but is asking junior doctors to work with him to discuss a deal on working conditions.

Speaking to The Mirror last night, the Cabinet minister said: ”This rush to strike action, despite receiving a 28.9% pay rise over the last three years, is unreasonable and unnecessary. Resident doctors received the highest pay award in the entire public sector this year, something the BMA themselves described as generous.

READ MORE: Patients face NHS chaos as resident doctors announce exact date of strikes

“Strike action under those circumstances is completely unprecedented in British trade union history. The pain of cancelled appointments and constant delays are all too recent in the public’s memory. The difference this time is that the BMA has lost the public’s support, with just one in five supporting strikes. Patients are begging resident doctors not to walk out on them.

“I will not give up trying to stop this needless strike action. The BMA will not find another Health and Social Care Secretary as sympathetic to resident doctors as me. By choosing to strike instead of working in partnership to improve conditions for their members and the NHS, the BMA is squandering a real opportunity.

"I urge them to work with me on rebuilding the working lives of resident doctors and rebuilding our NHS. It is still not too late to step back from the brink."

Bitter relations with the former Tory Government saw resident doctors take major industrial action over 2023-2024. They staged 11 strikes, totalling 44 days, in one of the longest running disputes in the NHS's history. The walk outs led to 1.5 million appointments, procedures and operations being cancelled or delayed.

In a statement, BMA resident doctors committee co-chairs Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt said: "We met Wes Streeting yesterday and made every attempt to avoid strike action by opening negotiations for pay restoration. Unfortunately, the Government has stated that it will not negotiate on pay, wanting to focus on non-pay elements without suggesting what these might be. Without a credible offer to keep us on the path to restore our pay, we have no choice but to call strikes.

"No doctor wants to strike, and these strikes don't have to go ahead. If Mr Streeting can seriously come to the table in the next two weeks we can ensure that no disruption is caused. The Government knows what is needed to avert strikes. The choice is theirs."

Some 90% of voting resident doctors backed strike action, with the BMA reporting a turnout of 55%. The union has said that resident doctors need a pay uplift of 29.2% to reverse "pay erosion" since 2008/09.

Yesterday, a Number 10 spokesman said: "We aren't going to reopen negotiations on pay. Resident doctors have received the highest pay award across the public sector for two years in a row, and we've been clear that we can't be more generous than we already have this year."

Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, has said: "A return to industrial action would be a huge setback - bad for patients, for staff and for the NHS."

In September, BMA members voted to accept a Government pay deal worth 22.3% on average over two years. The 2025/26 pay deal saw resident doctors given a 4% uplift plus £750 "on a consolidated basis" - working out as an average pay rise of 5.4%.

The BMA call for a 29.2% uplift is based on Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation, the measure of average changes in the price of goods and services used by most households.

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