Wes Streeting to meet resident doctors' leaders in bid to avoid strikes
A five-day walkout is scheduled to start next week and could cause significant upheaval to the NHS in England.
The Resident Doctors Committee (RDC) – part of the British Medical Association (BMA) – will meet Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Thursday.
Discussions could be tense after Mr Streeting told MPs on Monday that he did not see a 'reasonable trade union partner' in the RDC 'at this time'.
The Cabinet minister has insisted the Government will not budge on pay, but said discussions could focus on improving working lives of resident doctors.
In a joint statement issued at the weekend, RDC co-chairs Dr Ross Nieuwoudt and Dr Melissa Ryan said they were hoping to 'find a solution that our members will find acceptable and that can prevent any strike action having to take place'.
On Tuesday, NHS leaders said there was no extra money to cover industrial action by resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors.
The last bout of strikes, which also included walkouts by other health workers, came at an estimated cost of £1.5 billion to the NHS in England.
Some 1.5 million appointments, procedures and operations were postponed as a result of the stoppages.
The strikes ended last September when resident doctor 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% increase plus £750 'on a consolidated basis', working out as an average rise of 5.4%.
Government officials said these two increases equate to a 28.9% pay rise.
But the BMA said resident doctors need 29.2% to reverse 'pay erosion' since 2008/09.
Earlier this month, the union announced that resident doctors in England would strike for five days from 7am on July 25.
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