Streeting's olive branch to junior doctors in bid to avoid strikes
The Health Secretary is examining changes which could make it easier for doctors to plan holidays, rise up the ranks and have more convenient shift patterns.
However, the British Medical Association's leaders said they wanted to see 'solutions that address the cost of living'.
Mr Streeting met the BMA junior doctors committee on Thursday, in a last-ditch attempt to avert a five-day strike which is due next week.
The BMA said Thursday's talks were 'great', while Mr Streeting said: 'We had a constructive conversation with the BMA today and we'll be having further conversations in the coming days to try to avert strike action.
'While we cannot move on pay after a 28.9 per cent pay rise, we are working on areas where we can improve working lives for resident doctors.
'Strikes have a serious cost for patients, so I am appealing to the BMA to call them off and instead work together to improve their members' working conditions and continue rebuilding the NHS.'
Pay rise 'off the table'
Officials will continue talks on Friday and over the weekend, with the BMA saying there was a 'window of opportunity' to make sufficient progress to cancel the strikes.
The union is demanding a pay increase of 29 per cent and said the talks, which lasted more than an hour, covered 'both pay and non-pay issues'.
Mr Streeting has said any further pay rise is off the table.
Discussions are set to focus on working conditions, where Mr Streeting has said he is sympathetic to complaints that it is too difficult for doctors to plan holidays in advance or find workable shift patterns.
However the BMA is pushing for doctors to receive a financial boost from any deal.
Earlier this week the Health Secretary suggested doctors could be offered quicker progression in their careers, so they can get pay rises sooner, rather than be stuck in training bottlenecks.
The union is also keen to see some student debts written off.
'Huge' student debts
Dr Melissa Ryan, co-chairman of the BMA's Resident Doctors Committee, said doctors inherited 'a huge amount' of student debt.
In a statement with co-chairman Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, she said: 'We are open to a number of solutions that address the cost of living of resident doctors.
'We believe that pay remains the simplest and most effective way towards improving their working lives. However, we are keen to explore additional measures the Government could agree to help restore the value and wellbeing of resident doctors.'
Dr Ryan said: 'There were high-level discussions about a number of different ways that resident doctors can have their situation improved... we work extraordinarily long hours looking after your loved ones, and it was refreshing to hear that Mr Streeting has heard how difficult it is to be a resident doctor, and the rationale of why some of them are leaving the NHS.'
Pay boosts under Labour mean junior doctors have seen earnings rise by 28.9 per cent, bringing basic starting salaries to £38,831 a year.
But there are significant boosts to pay from on-call working. By the time doctors reach the last stage of training, called ST8, basic starting salaries are £73,992 a year.
This means an A&E doctor at this stage can earn more than £100,000 a year, by working a full on-call rota which includes one in six weekends, one in eight nights and two evening shifts.
Health officials are expected to meet the BMA on Friday, with talks expected to continue over the weekend.
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