Talks between Health Secretary and BMA to take place next week
The BBC says discussions will take place next week, with the BMA telling the broadcaster industrial action would only be called off if it receives an offer it can put to its members.
Mr Streeting is reportedly sympathetic to improving working conditions for doctors, but will not budge on salaries.
Reacting to the BMA announcement on Wednesday, Mr Streeting called the move 'completely unreasonable' and urged the union to 'abandon their rush to strike', while health chiefs warned strikes are 'unfair to patients'.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting (Lucy North/PA)
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.'
TV doctor and IVF pioneer Professor Robert Winston resigned from the BMA following the strike announcement, writing in The Times: '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.
'Strike action completely ignores the vulnerability of people in front of you.'
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.
Some 90% of voting resident doctors backed the 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.
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.
The BMA has been contacted for comment.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
14 minutes ago
- Sky News
We are entering 'golden age' of cancer treatment - and also facing a less gilded era too
A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with a melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer that had spread throughout their body, including their brain. Even a decade ago, their cancer would have been essentially incurable and rapidly fatal. My friend's tumours however are shrinking as their immune system attacks the cancer cells wherever they happen to be in their body. A treatment called immunotherapy is directing their own immune system to find and attack cancer cells in all the parts of the body to which they have spread. It's a familiar story across multiple cancer types with new classes of treatment, often based on rapid advances in understanding of the genetics of cancer - or cancer patients themselves. So the outgoing medical director of the NHS, Sir Stephen Powis, is not wrong: we are entering a "golden era" of cancer treatment, if we're not living in it already. Cancer treatment is becoming increasingly personalised to the specific mutations in the cancer itself. Oncologists know their enemy in more intimate detail than ever before. Tools like AI can sift through that detail to identify new vulnerabilities in cancer cells and techniques like gene editing allow scientists to design previously impossible new ways of exploiting them to slow, or reverse the spread of cancers. But we're entering a parallel and less gilded era too. Cancer is primarily a disease of ageing and our population is doing that rapidly. 1:09 It is also more common in those who eat and drink too much and exercise little - which is most of us - and explains why cancer rates are now, perhaps for the first time in human history, increasing in younger people too. As Sir Stephen points out, prevention must play an important role in reducing that increasing burden. It already has for some: smoking-related lung cancer is declining, so too is cervical cancer thanks to HPV vaccination in schools. But the bulk of cancers linked to poor diet, poor air quality, or poverty in general are not. We're also failing to make sure everybody benefits from the incredible new treatments available and those yet to come. While people are now getting cancer diagnosed faster in the NHS, many start treatment too late. More than 30% of patients wait more than two months to see a cancer specialist following an "urgent" referral from their GP (well below the NHS target that has not been met since it was introduced in 2015). 1:56 Cancer survival is increasing, but so too is the disparity between those benefitting from the latest treatments and those who aren't. Specialist treatment in some parts of the UK is far better than in others - often those in poorer places where cancer rates are higher. And the latest, and best, cancer treatments - which are largely bespoke-tailored to the patient's needs - are increasingly expensive. Affording these has always been a challenge for the NHS and will only get harder. While the golden era unfolds, much must be done to avoid another in which cancer treatment becomes a two, or even three, tier service that offers the best only to a few.
BBC News
33 minutes ago
- BBC News
St Catherine's Hospice 'needs more vital funding'
A hospice that provides "vital" palliative care is warning that it is not receiving enough money from government or fundraising to support its current level of Catherine's Hospice at Lostock Hall in Preston, Lancashire, is partly funded by the NHS, but has to find more than £5m a year from the community to maintain its executive Lynn Kelly said its annual deficit is running close to £ Department for Health and Social Care has said it is providing an extra £25m to hospices with a further £75m to come. Ms Kelly said the hospice, which opened 40 years ago, costs £8.3m a year to NHS provided 26% last year, this year it was 23%, and ideally she wants a three-year programme to get that figure up to 35%. 'Radical rethink' "The only income line that hasn't increased in recent years in line with inflation is the NHS income, so that is the one we really need to address," she said."The deficit has been growing over the last number of years and that is a concern."She said there needs to be a radical re-think of how hospice services across the country are funded if current demand, and a predicted increase in those needing care is to be met."At the moment there are over 3,000 people who need palliative care in central Lancashire," she said. "In the next 15 years that is going to increase by 55% and deaths from dementia are going to triple, so hospice services are going to be more in demand than ever before."We know already too many people die before we can get to them. "Last year 220 people died before we could get to them and that will only grow if we can't get our funding." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on BBC Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
Scotsman
35 minutes ago
- Scotsman
TV's Dr Hilary Jones travels 360-miles - to bypass local NHS waiting list
Dr Hilary Jones prepares to leave the Practice Plus Group Hospital in Birmingham after his hip replacement surgery. | Simon Stacpoole/PinPep TV doctor Hilary Jones went on a 360-mile round trip for surgery – to bypass his local NHS waiting list. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The popular GP, 72, from Kent, underwent a second hip replacement in a hospital in Birmingham, 180 miles from home, to reduce his waiting time for treatment. Now, he is speaking out about his own surgery to show others awaiting treatment that they can also fast-track themselves if they're happy to travel. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He took advantage of NHS Patient Choice after discovering a hospital that had almost no waiting list in the middle of the country. Patient choice in the NHS provides patients with a legal right to choose where they receive their NHS healthcare services, including hospitals and other providers. This will include many private hospitals if they provide services to the NHS and it does not cost the health service any more than a referral to a standard NHS hospital. Speaking after his procedure at Practice Plus Group's new hospital in Birmingham, Hilary said: 'It was 180 miles from my home to Birmingham - but as it's a new hospital and it's a private hospital that treats NHS patients, they could get me in very quickly just with a referral from my GP. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I'd do it again in a heartbeat for faster, quality care and highly recommend it. "Patient Choice gives people real power - they just need to know it's there. "The NHS App is going to be developed further to make this easier, and you can speak to your GP about your choices. 'You can choose to be referred to a private hospital at the outset, or you can switch hospitals like I did if you're facing delays locally. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "It's free for the patient and costs the NHS no more than if that same patient had their op at an NHS hospital. "For people like me, who are lucky enough to be mobile despite needing an operation, it makes complete sense to find a hospital that can do your operation sooner so you can get on the road to recovery sooner. 'People don't want to be on a waiting list. They want to get on with their lives. 'Every single person that looked after me was amazing and couldn't have done any more. I am delighted with the result so far.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Dr Hilary Jones recovering after his hip replacement surgery at the Practice Plus Group Hospital in Birmingham | Simon Stacpoole/PinPep 'People don't want to be on a waiting list - they want to get on with their lives' It follows a poll of 1,000 adults suffering from chronic aches and pains - including those in need of hip and knee replacements - which revealed people in need of NHS operations would be willing to travel if it meant they could get the surgery they're desperate for, sooner. On average, respondents were happy to travel 60 miles if it meant they'd be seen within three-to-four weeks, or 49 miles for a six-to-eight-week timeframe. And one in 10 would even travel over 200 miles if they could get the NHS surgery they need within a month. Of those polled, 36 per cent are currently on a waiting list, and 17 per cent have been in a queue for more than a year. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But 55 per cent had no idea that under NHS Patient Choice, you can choose to travel to a hospital outside of your area that has a shorter waiting list - often a private hospital that treats NHS patients. Those surveyed had similar motivations to Dr Hilary, with 55 per cent simply wanting to resume normal activities sooner, and 68 per cent wanting to avoid prolonged discomfort and pain. For 63 per cent, avoiding the stress of waiting was also key. However, 88 per cent of those polled, via OnePoll, believed the option to choose your hospital needed to be promoted more widely. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Commissioned by Practice Plus Group hospitals, which treat NHS patients as well as those who choose their Wellsoon private healthcare option, the survey also revealed 35 per cent of those who would consider going private to beat the waiting lists would travel for more than 90 minutes if it meant saving £2,000 or more on the cost of paying for a hip or knee replacement. Jim Easton, chief executive, added: 'It's fantastic for patients that in the NHS 10 year plan, the government has renewed its commitment to using capacity in the private sector and to creating a new patient choice charter to ensure the NHS is receptive and reactive to patient preferences. 'To achieve the ambitious waiting time targets, we also need more people to know that they can travel outside of their immediate area if they find a hospital that can see them sooner. 'It is important people realise they have the power to be proactive and get their treatment sooner, get back to work and back on track as soon as possible. 'Dr Hilary found this at our Birmingham hospital which currently can see people in a few short weeks.
