"Streeting also signalled his determination to get back to the talks, saying he did not want to see a single day of industrial action in the NHS in 2026, and that he would be doing everything I can to make this a reality. My door remains open, as it always has done, and I'm determined to resume discussions with the BMA in the new year to put an end to these damaging cycles of disruption, he said."
"The British Medical Association called on the health secretary to come to the table with the same constructive attitude, saying the tone of 11th-hour talks before their stoppage had been encouraging but too late to avoid the strike in England. Streeting and Keir Starmer have taken a tough line towards the strike, with the prime minister saying it was beyond belief that it should go ahead when the flu-hit NHS was facing its worst crisis since Covid."
Resident doctors ended a five-day strike and will approach renewed talks with Health Secretary Wes Streeting with a can-do spirit to avoid further industrial action. The British Medical Association urged the health secretary to adopt a constructive attitude and said late-stage discussions before the stoppage were encouraging but too late to prevent the strike in England. Streeting signalled determination to resume talks and said he did not want any NHS industrial action in 2026, keeping his door open. Pay negotiations remain deadlocked, with doctors seeking real-terms pay restoration to 2008 levels while the government offered expanded training places, an offer BMA resident doctors rejected. Calls emerged for less name-calling and more deal-making in 2026.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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