My Message To Doctors, After Five Days Of Strikes? Work With Us: If You Go To War With Us, You’ll Lose | Wes Streeting

As 5 days of onslaught action by resident doctors come to an end, nan BMA has written asking maine to return to nan negotiating table. I’ve responded, pinch nan irony of their missive being that I ne'er near nan table. We are backmost to wherever we were 2 weeks ago, erstwhile I sat down successful bully religion and offered to activity intensively pinch them complete a fewer weeks to discuss a package of measures that would make a existent quality successful gathering nan costs of doctors’ training, nan costs associated pinch being a expert and nan deficiency of promotion opportunities.

The only quality betwixt now and a fortnight agone is nan harm that nan BMA has done to nan NHS done its reckless onslaught action.

Thanks to nan difficult activity of NHS leaders and nan heroic efforts of frontline unit who stepped up, including galore resident doctors who showed up for work, nan disruption was not arsenic bad arsenic it mightiness person been. We managed to protect much operations and procedures than successful erstwhile years, and our mishap and emergency consequence times improved during nan play of onslaught action.

But I do not want for a infinitesimal to play down nan existent effect of onslaught action connected patients. The BMA has made nary bones astir nan truth that it wanted to do harm to nan advancement we are making connected cutting waiting lists and waiting times, and usage nan suffering of patients arsenic leverage against nan government. It cannot duck nan consequences of its actions now.

On Saturday, I said to a diligent whose kidney crab room has been postponed by a period until nan extremity of August. I rang him personally to apologise because, having been done kidney crab myself, I cognize precisely really it feels to wait, and nan effect nan fearfulness and worry has connected our families and adjacent friends. It was conscionable 1 of countless examples of crab attraction that was affected, not to mention galore different operations, appointments and procedures.

We are still counting nan costs of onslaught action connected patients and stretched NHS budgets – budgets that doctors are relying connected to present existent improvements to their moving conditions, arsenic good arsenic to diligent care.

Doctors are not nan only unit I americium responsible for successful nan NHS. The Royal College of Nursing will soon people a study of its members and, without having seen nan results, I person spent capable clip pinch our nurses to cognize that they person not felt weighted by nan erstwhile authorities and they are looking to Labour to present meaningful alteration to their profession. The GMB national has made akin representations connected behalf of paramedics. Unite returned a antagonistic ballot this week. Unison, nan largest waste and acquisition national successful nan country, knows amended than anyone that unit correct crossed nan NHS are looking for worldly improvements to their salary and conditions. Many of them will ne'er gain arsenic overmuch arsenic nan lowest-paid doctor. I person committed to activity pinch them done nan NHS unit assembly to make judge that we thrust existent alteration for their members, too.

A striking resident expert holds a placard during a picket extracurricular nan Royal Liverpool assemblage infirmary successful Liverpool, 25 July 2025. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA

None of them person had a salary emergence of 28.9%. Only resident doctors tin declare to person received nan highest salary emergence successful nan nationalist assemblage 2 years successful a row. No wonderment different NHS unit person looked connected aghast astatine nan action of nan BMA. The BMA’s demands, and nan velocity pinch which it launched a onslaught – and a five-day onslaught astatine that – person near galore different NHS staff, astir of them paid acold little than doctors, dismayed and appalled.

The BMA is now adding jobs to its salary dispute, presumably because its members work together that picking a conflict connected salary aft a 28.9% salary summation is unprecedented and unreasonable, and they are much worried astir whether they person jobs to spell into. They are correct to beryllium concerned, but moving pinch nan BMA to reside expert unemployment and profession bottlenecks are among a number of things we are capable and consenting to do to amended nan lives of doctors.

All I inquire of nan BMA is 2 things. The first is to driblet this unnecessary and unreasonable unreserved to onslaught action. It harms doctors, it harms patients and it is fundamentally self-defeating, because it leaves nan NHS pinch little money to reside nan issues that doctors attraction about. The 2nd is to recognise that this authorities has a work to each NHS unit and, supra all, to patients. We can’t hole everything for everyone everyplace each astatine once.

Labour didn’t break nan NHS, nor did nan doctors. Patients are looking to america to activity together, arsenic a team, to get their NHS backmost connected its feet and build an NHS fresh for nan future. The past 12 months has shown what this authorities and nan NHS tin execute erstwhile we propulsion together. Waiting lists are astatine their lowest levels successful 2 years and it feels for illustration nan NHS is yet moving successful nan correct direction.

It should beryllium clear to nan BMA by now that it will suffer a warfare pinch this government. It’s not excessively precocious for america some to triumph nan peace.

• Wes Streeting is caput of authorities for wellness and societal care

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