Wes Streeting says British Medical Association are appearing like ‘moaning minnies’ over strike motion
The Health Secretary claimed the British Medical Association (BMA) had an outbreak of ‘juvenile delinquency’, after they announced plans to walk out over the Christmas period
Wes Streeting has accused doctors planning to strike of acting like “moaning minnies” amid a bitter row with the doctors union.
The Health Secretary claimed the British Medical Association (BMA) had an outbreak of “juvenile delinquency”, after they announced plans to walk out over the Christmas period.
Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, are set to walk out from 7am on December 17 until December 22. The move comes after a five-day walkout last month.
READ MORE: NHS waiting list falls as Wes Streeting says service ‘on road to recovery’READ MORE: Doctors announce huge five-day strikes as resident medics walk out in run-up to Christmas
Railing against the decision, Mr Streeting accused the BMA of ignoring the progress made under Labour, and having unrealistic demands.
He told Sky News: “It’s so disappointing because this should be a really good news story for General Practice.
“What frustrates me is, you would think from the BMA that I’ve had to drag GPs kicking and screaming to provide something that most services now provide, which is online access in the 21st century.
“In fact, it’s been the opposite. GPs have responded they’re up for it, with 98.7% of the practises now delivering online access.
“This should be a really great news story, when we came to office satisfaction with access to General Practice was around 60%, it’s now 75%.
“I’m still not satisfied because that means one in four people are not yet satisfied, but that’s a remarkable improvement in space of a year and GPs deserve real credit for that.
their own representatives, far from saying isn’t it great, look at what our members have done, look at the modernisation, look at the improvement in patient satisfaction, they are sat in the corner like moaning minnies when actually their members are doing a really good job working with the government to improve patient care and experience.”
Mr Streeting admitted he’d “had it” with the BMA, and accused them of delaying the recovery of the NHS after years of Tory austerity.
He said: “Whether it’s the rhetoric and the behaviour of the BMA around General Practice, whether it is yet another round of unnecessary strike action being proposed by resident doctors who’ve had 28.9% pay rise, we’ve seen an outbreak in the British medical association of juvenile delinquency.
“The BMA is not only holding back the NHS’s recovery and inflicting damage on patients, it’s also self-defeating for their members who are having to work in these conditions.”
