Sir Keir Starmer: Resident doctors strikes ‘irresponsible’

Sir Keir Starmer has condemned strike action by resident doctors as “irresponsible”.

The Prime Minister said he is “very gutted” that medics have voted to go ahead with walkouts this week and appealed to members of the British Medical Association (BMA) to “push back against” the union.

Members of the BMA rejected a new offer from the Government and will strike for five days from 7am on Wednesday.

It comes amid warnings of a “super flu” sweeping the nation, with flu cases in hospitals in England at a record level for this time of year.

Sir Keir, who appeared in front of MPs on the Liaison Committee, said: “It’s irresponsible at any time, particularly at the moment.

“It comes on the back of a very substantial pay increase in the last year or so.

“There’s a deal that we’ve put on the table that could have been taken forward, and so I think it’s irresponsible action by the BMA, and not for the first time.”

The Prime Minister also said he thinks resident doctors have lost the sympathy of the public and fellow NHS staff on strike action.

He added: “I’d appeal to the doctors themselves to push back against the BMA. In relation to this, they are losing ground in terms of the sympathy they might otherwise have had for the difficult job that they do.”

It comes after Health Secretary Wes Streeting accused the BMA of “shocking disregard for patient safety”.

The offer from the Government included a fast expansion of specialist training posts as well as covering out-of-pocket expenses such as exam fees, but did not include extra pay.

The BMA said that 83% of resident doctors voted to carry on with strike action while 17% said that the offer was enough.

Turnout was 65%, according to the union.

In the Commons, Mr Streeting called for “ordinary resident doctors to ignore the BMA strike and go to work this week”.

He added: “The BMA said this dispute was about pay, but we gave them a 28.9% pay rise.

“Then they said it was also about jobs, so I offered a deal to halve the competition for jobs to less than two applicants per post.

“It is now clear what these strikes are really about. The BMA fantasy demand for another 26% pay rise on top of the 28.9% they have already received.”

Mr Streeting accused the BMA of choosing Christmas to strike “to inflict damage on the NHS at the moment of maximum danger”.

“There is no need for these strikes to go ahead this week, and it reveals the BMA’s shocking disregard for patient safety and for other NHS staff,” he added.

“These strikes are self-indulgent, irresponsible and dangerous.”

Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of the BMA’s resident doctors committee, said: “My message is that we should start negotiating and the Government should stop game-playing, and what we should be doing is getting round the table immediately to try and get a solution which will see us stop turning tens of thousands of resident doctors who are fully qualified away from jobs in the NHS and also value doctors to stop them from leaving the NHS, rather than the Health Secretary pushing real term pay cuts onto doctors in just a few months’ time.”

He added: “This set of strikes, and every set of strikes to come for the next few years, is entirely avoidable.”

Mr Streeting told broadcasters that is it “now clear” that “what these strikes are really about is the BMA’s totally unrealistic demand for another 26% on top of the 28.9% pay rise they’ve already had”.

He said he offered to postpone walkouts until January “because of the enormous risk to patients and the NHS at the worst possible time”.

Public support for the strikes is low, according to a YouGov poll released on Friday, with 58% of those asked either somewhat or strongly opposing the industrial action while 33% somewhat or strongly support it.

The BMA said it “remains committed to ensuring patient safety” during the walkout.

But hospital leaders said the strikes come as the NHS “needs all hands on deck”.

Mr Streeting added: “I am appealing to ordinary resident doctors to go to work this week.

“There is a different magnitude of risk in striking at this moment.

“Abandoning your patients in their hour of greatest need goes against everything a career in medicine is meant to be about.

“The entire focus of my department and the NHS team will now be on getting the health service through the double whammy of flu and strikes.”

Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “This vote is a bitter pill which will inevitably result in harm to patients and damage to the NHS.

“We had hoped that the Government’s recent updated offer would be enough to head off another walkout at a time when so many people are suffering with flu, and the NHS needs all hands on deck.

“Trust leaders and staff will be working now to minimise the impact of the strike, but sadly it will mean further disruption and delays, and a very difficult Christmas for the health service.”

Rory Deighton, acute and community care director at the NHS Confederation, said: “It is bitterly disappointing that the BMA has rejected this offer and chosen to continue with hugely disruptive strikes.

“These strikes come at the worst possible time, with rapidly rising flu levels putting huge strain on hospitals.”

Figures released by the health service last week show that flu cases jumped by more than 55% in a week.

Some hospitals across the country have asked staff, patients and visitors to wear face masks to cut the spread of flu, while others have gone in and out of critical incident status because of the high number of people attending A&E.

Shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew said: “We Conservatives repeatedly warned Labour that by giving inflation-busting pay rises last year they would set a dangerous precedent.

“And now we see the consequences of their capitulation, with more disruption, more demands and no end in sight.”

Resident doctors make up just under half of the medical workforce in England.

Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said people “will once again be trapped in an endless cycle of disruption, cancellations, and anxiety”.

“It’s clear the current approach isn’t working. Independent mediation is the only credible path to a lasting solution that protects patients,” she said.

“Both the BMA and the Government must now commit to independent arbitration immediately. This must happen now. This cycle must end.”