Striking doctors accuse Wes Streeting of a 'slap in the face' of trade unions

Thousands of doctors are out on strike today in a bitter pay dispute with the Government.

Resident doctors across England are walking out for five days, demanding Labour commits to pay “restoration”, after over a decade of below-inflation deals under previous Tory governments. The British Medical Association has organised main regional picket lines for around 50,00 striking doctors at NHS sites in the North East, North West, Midlands, east of England and across the South.

Dr Kelly Johnson told of her anger at Health Secretary Wes Streeting's opposition to the strikes. Speaking outside St Thomas' Hospital in London where she works, she said: "Every union has the right to strike. It feels like a slap in the face to say that we are doing something that is unjust. Just because we're doctors doesn't mean we can't come out and strike and protest for what we think is right."

Speaking outside Leeds General Infirmary, paediatrics registrar Cristina Costache said: "Reducing the waiting list is a really good target but you're going to reduce the waiting list if you increase the numbers of posts, if you give better pay so the jobs don't leave for another country."

Dr Ben Cowdry, posted on social media site X the crab emoji which has been adopted by a faction of resident doctors to represent not taking a backward step in their industrial dispute. He said: Today’s picket at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. £22.67/hr is not an unreasonable ask. Doctors have subsidised the NHS for far too long. Perhaps Wes Streeting needs reminding that the power to stop these strikes lies squarely with the government.”

Picket lines are being staged at Manchester Royal Infirmary, Royal Sussex County Hospital, Southampton General Hospital, Leeds General Infirmary, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Hull Royal Infirmary, Bristol Royal Infirmary and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

The BMA points to pay erosion since 2008 saying real terms salaries are down 20% since then according to the Retail Price Index measure of inflation. The Government’s preferred measure of inflation, the Consumer Price Index, shows average resident doctor salaries down 5% since 2008 but ministers point out they have been increasing in real terms in recent years.

The latest deal for 2025/26 consisted of a 4% uplift plus £750 "on a consolidated basis" - working out as an average rise of 5.4%, before inflation.

Speaking outside the Bristol Royal Infirmary, Dr Fareed Al-Qusous, 26, said: "But the most recent pay uplift represents a 1% real terms uplift. At that rate it would take roughly 20 years to restore a 21% pay erosion. Wes Streeting said that pay restoration is a journey - we're willing to take him on that journey, but that journey is far beyond the lifespan of this Government.

Dr Al-Qusous added: "‘The power to stop these strikes lies squarely with this Government’. That is a direct quote from Wes Streeting when he was the shadow health secretary in 2022. That same logic and that responsibility lies with him at the moment. All he has to do is negotiate with us on pay. It doesn't have to be all in one year, it can be split over several years. We're asking for our pay to be restored. Our pay demands are only so high because our pay erosion has been so severe."

Health Secretary Wes Streeting says doctors have received a 29% pay increase over the last three years, before inflation. This is because after Labour came to power it settled a dispute it inherited from the previous Tory government with a pay deal worth 22.3% on average over two years. However this covered a period of high inflation following the chaos of the short-lived Liz Truss government.

Mr Streeting has insisted the 5.4% they received for 2025/26 is the highest in the public sector and all the Government can afford right now. The Royal College of Nursing is balloting its members over a 3.6% pay award.

Mr Streeting said: "I'm really proud of the way that NHS leaders and frontline staff have prepared and mobilised to minimise the disruption and minimise the risk of harm to patients. We've seen an extraordinary response, including people cancelling their leave, turning up for work, and resident doctors themselves ignoring their union to be there for patients. I'm extremely grateful to all of them.

"What I can't do today is guarantee that there will be no disruption and that there is no risk of harm to patients. We are doing everything we can to minimise it, but the risk is there, and that is why the BMA's action is so irresponsible.

"They had a 28.9% pay award from this Government in our first year, there was also an offer to work with them on other things that affect resident doctors - working lives - and that's why I think this is such reckless action.

"This Government will not allow the BMA to hold the country to ransom, and we will continue to make progress on NHS improvement, as we've done in our first year."

It comes after NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey told broadcasters about his different approach to managing the strike, including keeping as much pre-planned care going as possible rather than just focusing on emergency care.

Asked about next steps and the continued threat of doctor strikes, given the BMA has a six-month mandate to call more industrial action, Mr Streeting said: "When the BMA asks, 'what's the difference between a Labour government and a Conservative government?', I would say a 28.9% pay rise and a willingness to work together to improve the working conditions and lives of doctors. That is why the public and other NHS staff cannot understand why the BMA have chosen to embark on this totally unnecessary, reckless strike action.."

It comes as NHS chief executive Sir Jim Mackey told broadcasters on Friday about his different approach to managing the strike, including keeping as much pre-planned care going as possible rather than just focusing on emergency care.

Other NHS sites where striking doctors are gathering are the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge.

Melissa Ryan, co-chair of the BMA’s resident doctor’s committee, said she and other medics regularly receive job offers from hospitals Down Under. Ryan, a paediatric trainee working in Nottingham, told the Mirror: “ Australia sends me messages on social media saying ‘come and work for us — we’d pay you better, you’d work less hours and the weather is better.’ We have had new doctors, coming through, make those choices to leave because it’s very stressful in the NHS but also because our pay is just not competitive and it’s a global market for doctors.”

Ryan, 45, continued: “The problem is it’s the patients who will miss out — we’re already short staffed, we can’t afford to lose a single more doctor to oversees work. What we need is for the Government to recognise the value of doctors, to reverse our pay erosion, actually come and talk and give us an offer and then I wouldn’t need to be out here on strike, I could be back at work.”

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NHS leaders are urging the public to keep coming forward for care during five-day walkout and to turn up for appointments unless informed it has been cancelled. Charities warn industrial action will inevitably lead to cancellations in treatment and negatively impact patients, particularly those with less survivable cancers like lung, liver, and brain cancer.

One person posted on social media site X - formerly Twitter - told how his elderly mum’s appointment for today had been postponed He said: “She’s been waiting 18 months in agony and unable to walk. Is it in your code of ethics for her to be lying in pain until the new appt in February? I’d sack the lot of you… I tell you what if you don’t like it go and get another job, stop being so cruel to people in desperate need of help, who have no quality of life while waiting for care.”

It comes on the day other NHS workers followed resident doctors in rejecting the Government’s pay deal, in a move that could lead to strikes further down the line.

The GMB union said its thousands of health workers, including ambulance crews, voted by 67% against the 3.6% pay award offered for 2025/26 in England. It has written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting calling for an urgent meeting. Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary, added: "We await his reply with interest."

The GMB represents about 50,000 health workers including 20,000 in the ambulance service.