Resident doctors have squandered the ‘considerable goodwill’ they had with Government after staging five days of strikes, Wes Streeting has said.
In a letter to British Medical Association leaders, the health secretary said he ‘never left’ the negotiating table and remains ready for further talks.
He describes the union’s actions as ‘deeply disappointing’, ’entirely unnecessary’ and ‘self-defeating’, adding: ‘Had you and your committee not rushed to strike, we would be in the second of the 3 weeks I asked for to work intensively together to improve the working lives of your members.’
The Labour MP for Ilford North reiterated that the Government ‘cannot move on pay’, but is ‘prepared to negotiate on areas related to your conditions at work, career progression and tangible measures which would put money in your members’ pockets’.
Resident doctors - formerly known as junior doctors - are taking industrial action in pursuit of a 29 per cent pay rise.
