Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said it is “regrettable” the British Medical Association (BMA) “let slip” that resident doctors are feeling excited by the prospect of more strikes.
He told the PA news agency that union members “could be round the table working together” rather than on picket lines.
Doctors in training, formerly known as junior doctors, are currently being balloted on whether or not to stage further walkouts, with the vote closing on July 7.
Speaking at the BMA’s annual representative meeting in Liverpool on Tuesday, Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, co-chair of the union’s resident doctors committee, suggested that “people are excited to go again”.
He then corrected this to “energised” when pressed.
He said: “Excited as in energised. Not excited as in looking forward to it.”
Mr Streeting told PA: “I don’t think the resident doctors on the front line are excited by the prospect of strike action.
“I don’t think that people want to be out on picket lines.
“And I think it’s regrettable that the BMA to be honest let slip that they’re feeling excited.”
Previous strikes by resident doctors have taken place 11 times since 2022, leading to almost 1.5 million appointments being cancelled or rescheduled.
Members of the BMA voted to accept a Government pay deal worth 22.3% on average over two years last September.
The Government also committed to working with the union to streamline how resident doctors report any additional hours they work.
Dr Nieuwoudt said on Tuesday that doctors in training “want to push for change”, but “their cries have fallen on deaf ears”.
He said that while Mr Streeting gave medics “a good deal that could stop the strike action at the time”, which included promises about a “genuine pathway” towards restoring pay, this has not happened.
Mr Streeting told PA: “I just remind the BMA that they’ve got in me, someone who not only wants to work with them, has already worked with them to deliver a 28.9% pay rise for resident doctors for the last three years, and shares their anger about the experiences of frontline resident doctors in terms of how their treated at work.
“Their placements, their rotations, their ability to take time off, the lack of hot food facilities overnight.
“So rather than be out on the picket line, we could be round the table working together to sort this out and to and to improve the NHS. And that’s what I want us to do together.”
The co-chairs of the BMA’s resident doctors committee, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Nieuwoudt, said in a statement: “The Health Secretary has been refusing to meet with us since he announced this year’s disappointing pay award, so it’s good to hear that he would now like to get round the table.
“We’ll be expecting to start negotiations on July 8th, when our ballot will have closed and there will be no excuse not to meet.”
