No deal: Streeting’s newest provide to finish docs’ strikes would not even final the afternoon
Wes Streeting’s hopes of averting another walkout by NHS doctors were dashed yesterday after his latest offer was rejected in just four hours.
The health secretary wrote to the British Medical Assocation at 11.02am, offering a package of measures, including more specialist training places and help with exam fees.
But the proposal failed to even survive the afternoon, with the union responding by 3.26pm.
It means patients face the prospect of further disruption and cancellations when resident doctors – previously known as junior doctors – strike for five days from Friday next week.
The medics are taking action in a row over jobs and pay, despite pocketing a 28.9 per cent pay rise over the past three years.
Mr Streeting wrote to Dr Jack Fletcher, the chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee, and sent a separate letter directly to doctors, urging them to call off the ‘unnecessary’ strike action.
The package includes doubling of ‘additional’ speciality training posts to avoid doctors being out of work, and other incentives including covering the costs of mandatory exams and membership fees.
In his letter to resident doctors, Mr Streeting said: ‘The offer is one that will deliver more training places for resident doctors, put more money in your pockets, and improve your working lives.
Wes Streeting, secretary of state for health and social care
‘It will also protect patients – and your fellow NHS staff – from the disruption and damage of industrial action should you choose to accept this offer.’
Mr Streeting has previously said the Government will not budge on headline pay.
In the letter, he adds: ‘I must underline that the enormous financial pressures facing the country mean I am not able to go further on pay.
‘We cannot afford to do more at this time and no amount of strike action will change this.’
He said strike action ‘hurts patients, sets back our progress, costs the NHS £240 million that could’ve been spent on frontline improvements’.
In the separate letter to Dr Fletcher, Mr Streeting said: ‘If further strikes were to go ahead, I would simply not be able to afford to offer the non-pay package again.’
Dr Fletcher issued a statement last night, saying: ‘This does not go far enough.
‘Even with this offer, thousands of doctors would still be unable to find a job – 30,000 doctors applied for 10,000 places this year – 1,000 more is not going to fix this crisis, nor come anywhere near doing so.
Dr Jack Fletcher, the chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee
‘Whatever else is true of this offer, Mr Streeting is still not facing up to the gravity of the situation: doctors facing unemployment while patients can’t see a doctor.
‘We have also been clear with Government that they can call off strikes for years if they’re willing to offer a multi-year pay deal that restores pay over time.
‘Sadly, even after promising a journey to fair pay, Mr Streeting is still unwilling to move. In fact, he has just suggested another real-terms pay cut.
‘Strikes can still be avoided but first there will need willingness to offer a pay deal and a genuine solution on jobs.’
A source close to Mr Streeting described the swift rejection as ‘extremely frustrating’, adding: ‘We sent an offer to the BMA Resident Doctors Committee, which would have delivered more training places for resident doctors, put more money in their pockets and improved their working lives.
‘It’s extremely frustrating that within just a few hours, that offer had been rejected by the BMA’s leadership.’
