The doctors' strikes will cost the NHS £240 million, the health secretary has said, as he blasted the “cartel-like” union behind the walkout for causing “untold misery and disruption” to patients.
Wes Streeting told the NHS Providers’ conference in Manchester that the five-day resident doctors’ strike was “morally reprehensible” and would threaten the future of the NHS.
The strike, led by the British Medical Association’s resident doctors’ committee, will start at 7am on Friday and comes after warnings that the NHS faces the worst flu season in a decade.
The speech came after the health secretary was forced to deny that he was plotting to oust Sir Keir Starmer amid an extraordinary row at the top of government.
Hours after saying he was frustrated that the story was distracting from Labour’s message, Mr Streeting told delegates that the government would not “be held to ransom” by the BMA and that it was clear the union was no longer a professional voice for doctors.
He said: “It's time for the BMA to get real. But one way or another, we're not going to be held to ransom.
“We are going to plough [ahead] regardless, and I think it's become increasingly clear that the BMA is no longer a professional voice for doctors.
“They are increasingly behaving in cartel-like behaviour, and they threaten not just the recovery of the NHS under this government, they threaten the future of the NHS full stop, and I think that is a morally reprehensible position to be in.”
He went on to say that the walkout would cost the NHS around £240 million, meaning the government “will not be able to afford the same offer” that it made to the BMA in a bid to avert the strikes.
Previous estimates have suggested that, since 2023-24, NHS strikes have cost £1.7 billion.
Calling for an eleventh hour stop to the action, he added: “Patients, doctors, and the wider NHS staff all lose if strikes go ahead and there is still time for everyone to win.”
Mr Streeting’s comments about the BMA were met with applause from the room.
When asked whether he would consider legislation changes which would make it harder for doctors to strike, which were floated under the previous government, Mr Streeting said “unsurprisingly, as a Labour politician, that's certainly not my instinct”.
“I think what I'd say to the BMA is, with that power comes a responsibility and a duty of care to patients. And honestly, look at the turnout and look at the level of mandate they got for it,” he said.
He said resident doctors have had a 28.9 per cent pay rise and he had increased training places as well as making offers in areas such as exam fees.
“I cannot think of a precedent in British trade union history where, after that level of pay rise, people have then chosen to walk out on strike,” he said.
Also speaking at the conference, NHS England chief Jim Mackey called the strikes “irritating” but said: “We do really need to work at getting around the table.”
It follows an announcement on Tuesday that NHS England had been given the go-ahead for thousands of redundancies to progress in line with plans to abolish NHS England and reorganise managing bodies within the NHS.
Mr Mackey confirmed there was no additional funding for the redundancies but that NHS England had received permission from the government to “reprofile” the funding increase awarded to health in the spending review.
This means the NHS will bring forward promised investment for future years to fund redundancies.
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