Source: Politics | The Guardian
Resident doctors across England are considering whether to join the British Medical Association’s escalating strike action, but the health secretary Wes Streeting has warned that walking out would damage both patient care and the wider union movement. He said the planned walkouts by hospital trainees and junior medics were “enormously undermining” solidarity and would hurt the very people the profession is sworn to protect, urging doctors to call off industrial action.
In interviews ahead of the proposed strike, Streeting insisted the government was committed to improving pay and working conditions for medical staff, but argued that an indefinite strike would alienate the public and make it harder to build support for the long-term reforms the NHS needs. He highlighted that the BMA’s demand for full pay restoration all at once was unrealistic, and warned that repeated walkouts were eroding trust in unions at a time when cross-sector collaboration was essential.
Streeting’s intervention follows months of bitter negotiations between ministers and the BMA, which has been campaigning for junior doctors to receive pay rises to reverse years of erosion. The dispute comes as other public sector unions threaten to join strike action over By appealing directly to trainee doctors, Streeting is trying to head off a broader confrontation and keep public opinion on the government’s side. Fo.r a full account, see the Guardian’s coverage and the BBC’s health coverage.
