Wes Streeting has warned doctors that “the public will not forgive you” as the NHS faces months of strike chaos.
The health secretary said that a pay rise is not an option after doctors in England voted in favour of industrial action, which could see walkouts last until January next year.
He also accused them of “squandering an opportunity by striking” instead of working with him to improve working conditions, warning: “You will not find another health and social care secretary as sympathetic to resident doctors as me”.
It comes after the British Medical Association (BMA) announced that resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, had backed strike action as part of demands to secure a 29 per cent pay rise.
Warning that more walkouts will be a “disaster” for the BMA’s members and patients alike, “just as we are finally moving the NHS in the right direction”, Mr Streeting called on the union to reconsider.
He told The Times: “The public will not forgive strike action in these circumstances and nor will I.”
And in a letter to the BMA on Wednesday, Mr Streeting said: “As I have stated many times, in public and in private, with you and your predecessors, you will not find another health and social care secretary as sympathetic to resident doctors as me.
“By choosing to strike instead of working in partnership to improve conditions for your members and the NHS, you are squandering an opportunity”.
He added: “Ultimately, we are all public servants. The public won’t see why, after a 28.9 per cent pay rise, you would still walk out on strike, and neither do I.”
The dates of the strikes have not yet been confirmed, but the NHS will face huge disruption, with hundreds of thousands of appointments at risk of being cancelled if the action goes ahead.
The move would threaten to undermine Sir Keir Starmer’s key ambition to cut waiting lists and could leave the government’s new 10-year plan for the NHS, unveiled last week, in tatters.
The BMA said there is “still time to avert strike action” as it urged Mr Streeting to “come forward as soon as possible with a credible path to pay restoration”.
But the health secretary has stated that pay negotiations will not be reopened, although he has said he is willing to work with doctors on improving working conditions.
He told The Times: “Patients do not support the proposed strike action and it doesn’t even command majority support among BMA resident doctors, less than half of whom actually voted for industrial action. There are no grounds for strike action now. Resident doctors have just received the highest pay award across the entire public sector.”
“I urge the BMA, even at this late stage, to reconsider this deeply damaging course of action”, he added.
Downing Street has similarly said that pay negotiations will not be reopened because the government “can’t be more generous” than it already has been this year.
A Number 10 spokesperson said: “The NHS is finally moving in the right direction for the first time in 15 years so it’s disappointing that the BMA is threatening to undermine that progress with strikes. We aren’t going to reopen negotiations on pay.”
BMA committee co-chairs Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt said in a statement: “Doctors have spoken and spoken clearly: they won’t accept that they are worth a fifth less than they were in 2008.
“Our pay may have declined but our will to fight remains strong. We now find ourselves at a crucial crossroads. Last year when in opposition Mr Streeting said that the solution to strikes was to talk to resident doctors – it was as true then as it is now.”
Despite being awarded a 5.4 per cent pay rise for this financial year, the BMA have said that wages are still around 20 per cent lower in real terms than in 2008.
The trade union said that 90 per cent of its members voted in favour of industrial action and are demanding “pay restoration”. The ballot gives resident doctors a mandate for strike action until January 2026.
The news will come as a blow to the government after Sir Keir’s “plan for change” pledged that by July 2029, 92 per cent of patients will be seen within 18 weeks for routine hospital treatment such as hip and knee replacements.
The waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England is currently at its lowest level for two years, according to the latest figures, with an estimated 7.39 million treatments waiting to be carried out at the end of April.
Previous strikes by junior doctors and other NHS staff groups have seen some 1.5 million appointments, operations and procedures postponed.
Hospital consultants and specialist doctors are also due to ballot over industrial action, which could see them join resident doctors on the picket lines.
Commenting on the announcement, Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers – which is part of the NHS Confederation, said: “Resident doctors voting for more industrial action after the largest series of pay awards in the public sector is a troubling development.
“Further strikes are the last thing health leaders wanted and could result in tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of operations and procedures being delayed or cancelled, leaving patients in pain or discomfort.”
In September, BMA members voted to accept a government pay deal worth 22.3 per cent on average over two years.
And the 2025-26 pay deal saw resident doctors given a 4 per cent uplift plus £750 “on a consolidated basis” – working out as an average pay rise of 5.4 per cent.
The BMA call for a 29.2 per cent uplift is based on Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation, the measure of average changes in the price of goods and services used by most households.
There are around 77,000 resident doctors in England who work in various settings from GP surgeries to hospitals. Resident doctor is a catchall term for all doctors in training ranging from graduates to medics with a decade of experience.
Resident doctor members of the BMA have taken industrial action 11 times since 2022.
A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “While most resident doctors in the BMA did not vote to strike, it is disappointing that the BMA is continuing to threaten strike action after a pay rise of 28.9 per cent over the last three years.
“The secretary of state has been clear that he wants to work constructively with all unions, including the BMA, to improve working conditions for NHS staff and avoid strike action, which can be hugely disruptive for patients.”
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