Resident Doctors Poised to Strike as Last-Ditch Talks Continue
Tens of thousands of resident doctors in England are due to begin a five-day strike at 7am on Saturday, even as the British Medical Association and the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, report “constructive” but unresolved talks. The government has offered a 5.4 per cent rise for this year; the union says pay has fallen roughly a fifth in real terms since 2008. Hospital leaders warn of widespread cancellations.
Picket lines are expected outside major hospitals in London and seven other English regions from Saturday morning through to Thursday. Mr Streeting said negotiations had been “constructive”, with “further conversations in the coming days”, and the BMA’s resident-doctors committee said nothing was “off the table”, leaving a slim chance of an eleventh-hour deal. The government points to pay rises averaging nearly 29 per cent over two years, the highest in the public sector. A walkout would test the NHS just as waiting lists had begun to fall. Watch whether weekend talks avert or merely pause the action.