Health (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Health Secretary Wes Streeting criticises doctors as “self-indulgent” after they voted to proceed with a five-day strike, escalating NHS tensions.
Wes Streeting’s last-minute appeal to stop the walkout was decisively rejected by the resident physicians of the British Medical Association (BMA), with medical professionals scheduled to join the picket lines on Wednesday starting at 7 a.m.
Due to concerns that the strike may put patients at danger because of a spike in “super flu” cases that are sweeping the country, the action sparked warnings of a “very difficult Christmas” for the NHS. The number of flu cases in English hospitals is at an all-time high for this season.
The prime minister joined Mr. Streeting urged doctors to disregard their union and report to work this week despite the fact that they were losing the public’s sympathy due to the conflict, saying he was “gutted” by the news.
Mr. Streeting cautioned that compared to earlier industrial action, the dates, which fell immediately before the Christmas bank holidays, offered a “different magnitude of risk.”
He took issue with the BMA’s refusal to wait until January and accused them of selecting the time to “inflict damage on the NHS at the moment of maximum danger.”
“There is no need for these strikes to go ahead this week, and it reveals the BMA’s shocking disregard for patient safety and for other NHS staff,”
he said.
“These strikes are self-indulgent, irresponsible and dangerous.”
He continued:
“I am appealing to ordinary resident doctors to go to work this week. There is a different magnitude of risk in striking at this moment. Abandoning your patients in their hour of greatest need goes against everything a career in medicine is meant to be about.”
Mr. Streeting had presented the union with a new agreement that, importantly, featured no additional compensation but more access to specialized training positions and funding for costs like exam fees.
However, the BMA rejected the offer, calling it “too little, too late.” On a 65% turnout, 83% of doctors voted in favor of continuing the strike, while 17% voted against it.
Dr Jack Fletcher, the chairman of the BMA’s resident doctors committee, said:
“Tens of thousands of frontline doctors have come together to say ‘no’ to what is clearly too little, too late.
This week’s strike is still entirely avoidable – the health secretary should now work with us in the short time we have left to come up with a credible offer to end this jobs crisis and avert the real-terms pay cuts he is pushing in 2026.”
The strikes were denounced by Sir Keir as “irresponsible.”
He expressed his “extreme sadness” to members of the Commons Liaison Committee. 10 times out of 10. At any time, but especially right now, it is reckless.
He added:
“It comes off the back of a very substantial pay increase over the last year or so. There’s a deal that we’ve put on the table that could have been taken forward and so I think its irresponsible action by the BMA and not for the first time.”
He added:
“I would appeal to the doctors themselves to push back against the BMA. They are losing the sympathy of the public. They are losing the support of their colleagues.”
During the walkout, the BMA declared that it “remains committed to ensuring patient safety.” However, hospital administrators stated that the NHS “needs all hands on deck” during the time of the strikes.
Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, said:
“This vote is a bitter pill which will inevitably result in harm to patients and damage to the NHS.
We had hoped that the government’s recent updated offer would be enough to head off another walkout at a time when so many people are suffering with flu, and the NHS needs all hands on deck.
Trust leaders and staff will be working now to minimise the impact of the strike, but sadly it will mean further disruption and delays, and a very difficult Christmas for the health service.”
The NHS Confederation’s director of acute and community care, Rory Deighton, called the vote “bitterly disappointing.”
“What these strikes are really about is the BMA’s totally unrealistic demand for another 26% on top of the 28.9% pay rise they’ve already had,”
Mr. Streeting told broadcasters.
“Because of the enormous risk to patients and the NHS at the worst possible time,”
he stated, he proposed delaying walkouts until January.
According to a YouGov survey conducted last week, 53% of Britons opposed the strikes, a record high.
Shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew said:
“We Conservatives repeatedly warned Labour that by giving inflation-busting pay rises last year they would set a dangerous precedent. “And now we see the consequences of their capitulation, with more disruption, more demands and no end in sight.”
What are the BMA reasons for proceeding with the pre Christmas strike?
The BMA progressed with the pre-Christmas strike due to the government’s failure to offer believable advancements on pay restoration or job security for resident doctors. They cited a 26 real- terms pay cut since 2008 and inadequate new training posts amid a jobs extremity, rejecting non-pay gratuities like test figure content.
Leaders like Dr. Jack Fletcher emphasized that strikes came necessary after accommodations collapsed, with the rearmost offer dismissed for lacking payment uplifts or binding commitments to prioritize UK graduates. The union views timing as necessary to press ministers before their strike accreditation expires in January 2026.
BMA insists on patient safety protocols, including” denigration” for life- hanging cases, while criminalizing Streeting of scaremongering over flu surges to avoid addresses. They plan a fresh ballot for further action if undetermined.
