Despite Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s efforts, the British Medical Association (BMA) has announced this afternoon that the doctors’ strikes are on. From 7 a.m. this Friday until 7 a.m. next Wednesday, medics across England will stage a walkout – the first of Keir Starmer’s premiership – over pay disputes. The announcement by the doctors’ union comes after Streeting wrote to members today in an 11th-hour attempt to halt the strikes and conduct more talks about improving working conditions. It was to no avail, however, with resident doctors deciding today that Streeting’s offers simply ‘did not go far enough’.

Resident doctors decided that Streeting’s offers simply ‘did not go far enough’

As I wrote earlier today, this means that up to 50,000 medics are preparing to walk out for better pay in action that could affect up to a quarter of a million patients. Previous industrial action by the union saw 44 days of strikes between 2023 and 2024, resulting in 1.5 million cancelled appointments and a cost to the health service of £1.5 billion. But........

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