Starmer Urges Resident Doctors to Suspend Strike Action

Keir Starmer, the prime minister, has called upon the junior doctors not to go on with their strike action scheduled for this Friday.


In an article for The Times, he wrote that the strike would bring much harm to the NHS and the country. He blamed the British Medical Association for rushing to a strike. The BMA said, "We are very sorry that strike action has had to be taken. It is not something that doctors wanted to do."


Sir Keir said this strike action will undo much of the work that has gone into fixing the NHS over the past five or so years. These words came after Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he was "about the most saddened" by where things stand now, in a letter to junior doctors on Thursday. He said the government cannot pay more but said he is ready to talk about job conditions and career development. Streeting said the pay offer was the best available in the public sector for junior doctors. He said there were three main areas where he considered they could work together to achieve "real change" in his discussions with the BMA this month.


This needed the "hard" work focusing on his declaration on the plans for cost cutting. He further mentioned that the expenses on equipment and also the meals and drinks needed some level of improvement. Material-wise, "I was ready to see how many more training roles could be set up." The strike still stands after the government and BMA presented unmet discussions on Tuesday.


Within the scope of five discussions, a proposition for greater financial support for in-house physicians was put forward concerning the exam fee, equipment charge, and promotional acceleration in the hierarchy. BMA proposed the removal of student loan plans but was turned down. Dr. Tom Dolphin, BMA head, stated, "We are very sad that strikes have had to happen, and of course if folks have urgent needs or must get urgent care, they should go to the hospital or their GP as they always do."


"Doctors do not wish to strike," he added, but stated that the resilience had been averted by the pay restoration plan. The statement also included that the BMA was prepared to further discuss agreement to the conflict.


Professor Tim Briggs, one of the senior leaders at NHS England, commented that with the option to strike, doctors must ensure that there is no damage to patient care. For senior physicians that are assigned to supervise, Prof. Briggs is concerned about the impacts on both the urgent and non-urgent care services. NHS England aims to preserve most of the non-urgent services, such as knee and hip surgeries, during the strike. This is a shift from previous strike policies, which suspended all non-urgent services. The BMA feels this approach is unsafe and has stated that non-urgent care should be suspended more often so that assistance is given to more urgent services.


Prof. Briggs said, "We are aware from the pandemic and the previous strike that if you no longer attend to patients who have been waiting for a long time, you harm them. You are never able to separate planned and urgent care; they are intertwined." Additionally, NHS leaders have publicly called for the elimination of what they consider excessive pay senior colleagues are requesting to cover for striking junior doctors.


Daniel Elkeles, from NHS Providers, which stands for health bosses, said that the strike will hit patients hard. He shared another big fear was the price, noting the BMA told top doctors to seek "high fees" that were "just too much."