Resident doctors, a fair deal is on the table. Please do not strike at this moment of crisis for the NHS | Keir Starmer
I I am a Labor Prime Minister who believes in workers’ right to strike. But let’s be clear about the planned strikes by resident doctors next week. This shouldn’t happen. They are reckless. They are putting the NHS and the patients who need it at serious risk.
I hope they can be avoided. A bargain is on the table, and the British Medical Association (BMA) is offering it to its members this weekend. My message to doctors is simple: take it.
After all, you’re no longer fighting a government that views industrial conflict as a way to score cheap political points. We recognize the damage caused by years of Tory austerity. With this government, your salary has increased by 28.9% over the last three years. We have invested a record amount in the NHS, reducing waiting times. And we have listened to your concerns about employment and training.
This is the novelty of the last agreement. We are proposing legislation that will prioritize UK medical graduates for specialist training jobs from next year. We will increase the number of places by 4,000, giving new hope to unemployed doctors next year. And we offered to cover the costs of other training expenses such as Royal College membership and exam fees.
But we also made another offer to the BMA leaders: the possibility of extending their mandate so that strikes could be postponed until after Christmas if our offer was rejected. Don’t get me wrong, of course I would prefer them to be cancelled. I would prefer that medical residents agree to a deal that improves their training and career prospects and puts money in their pockets. But in these circumstances, I wanted to be sure that we left no stone unturned in our efforts to protect the NHS.
Be under no illusion, these circumstances are potentially disastrous. The ‘super flu’ outbreak ravaging the country means this is the most precarious time the NHS has faced since the pandemic. Last week, an average of 2,660 hospital beds were occupied each day by flu patients, an increase of 55% from the previous week and significantly more than at the same time last year. And the epidemic continues to spread.
Having lived through a pandemic, we all know what that means. It means a battle. In hospital wards across the country, NHS staff will be working around the clock to ensure patients get the care they need and the NHS stays above water. In fact, residents’ colleagues will be canceling surgeries, canceling their Christmas holidays and preparing for this coming storm. The idea that strikes could still take place in this context is frankly inconceivable.
Resident doctors should therefore vote to stop them. For patients, for the NHS and for the whole country, this conflict should now end. A fair deal for doctors is on the table. And instead of conflict this Christmas, we can come together to improve the NHS we love.
