-3d1027.jpg)
Resident doctor strike cost tops £3bn as new action begins
The Government could have built a “few” hospitals or slashed NHS waiting lists faster with the estimated £3 billion it has cost to cover the long-running dispute with resident doctors, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said.
Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, have begun their 15th strike since 2023, with the cumulative cost of the walkouts estimated to have topped £3 billion. Asked by LBC’s Nick Ferrari what could have been done with those funds, Mr Streeting said: “We can do a few hospitals for that. “We could have run far more appointments and procedures with that money to cut waiting lists faster. Those would probably be the things that I would have chosen to prioritise.” The latest six-day strike, which began at 7am on April 7, will cost the NHS £300 million, the Health Secretary said. Meanwhile, the minister said that additional training places for resident doctors are not needed for the NHS or for patients. Wes Streeting said the public would think he had “lost the plot” if he pressed ahead with the offer of 1,000 additional training places for resident doctors after they rejected the Government’s deal on pay and jobs. NHS officials have said the strike – the joint longest walkout by resident doctors – will be “difficult” but urged patients to come forward as normal. It comes after an offer from the Government was rejected by the British Medical Association’s (BMA) resident doctors committee. The proposal included a 4.9% increase in average basic pay, which, according to Mr Streeting, would have left resident doctors 35.2% better off than four years ago. The proposal also included an offer of 1,000 extra training places, although that was taken off the table with Mr Streeting saying it was no longer “financially or operationally” possible as the NHS prepares to deal with the fallout from industrial action. The issue has become a key point of contention in the dispute. Mr Streeting told Times Radio: “I didn’t remove those training places, the BMA did when they rejected the deal – they seem to think they can have all of the benefits of the deal at the same time as rejecting it. “The jobs are still there, but what the training places do is provide higher pay and career progression for those doctors, that’s what the BMA have rejected. “Resident doctors are the ones that are banging on my door saying ‘we want those training places’. “I’m not getting the message from NHS leaders that these training places are needed for the NHS or for patients. “And can you imagine the outcry if, having rejected this deal and gone on strike costing the NHS £300 million this week, can you imagine the reaction if I said: ‘Well, never mind, we’ll still give them some of the deal, because we’re nice and reasonable’. “NHS leaders have not been banging on my door, demanding that I create additional training places for resident doctors. Quite the opposite.” He told Sky News: “Can you imagine what you and your viewers would be saying to me this morning if the BMA rejected this deal, went out on strike, cost the NHS £300 million, and the Government said: ‘we’re still going to give them the benefits of the deal’. You would think I had lost the plot. We are not going to do that.” Meanwhile, Mr Streeting told LBC: “We will be able to sustain and withstand strike action on an ongoing basis, if that’s the way the BMA take things. “But that comes in enormous waste of time, money and potential. You know, the NHS is finally moving in the right direction. It is on the road to recovery.” Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of the BMA resident doctors committee, told the Press Association: “There are doctors here this morning who have left the NHS because they don’t feel valued, they don’t feel able to progress. So we don’t only need more, but we need to stop doctors from leaving. “And last year, more doctors than in the last decade left the NHS, and we need to stop that from happening by valuing them.” Speaking outside St Thomas’ Hospital, he added: “Nobody’s asking for anything in one go, and nobody’s asking for anything overnight. But the Government does need to move. “We recognise there’s been progress on a number of fronts, but ultimately the Government needs to move on both jobs and pay to resolve these disputes for not only doctors, but crucially for patients as well. “What the Health Secretary is asking us to reconsider now is essentially will you bake in more real terms pay cuts, not just this year, but for future years? “So we’re more than willing to reconsider, or meet the Health Secretary and reconsider any offer that he puts to us. However, we can’t accept further real terms pay cuts.” He added: “I’m genuinely very sorry and it is regrettable that we’re having to take this action and I’m very sorry to patients, however, we feel like we had no choice.” On training places, he added: “One thousand places, gone, overnight, one thousand opportunities for doctors who have studied hard, dedicated their lives to the NHS, destroyed. “It’s this government that is holding patients hostage and using our next generation of consultants and surgeons as bargaining chips.” Elsewhere, hundreds of BMA staff are also on strike in an ongoing row over pay. The 48-hour walkout started on Monday. On the dispute, Mr Streeting told BBC Breakfast: “Here’s the real kicker, having rejected this deal because the pay offer apparently wasn’t good enough at 4.9%, the BMA are offering their own staff 2.75% on affordability grounds. “Why does the BMA think they can get away with telling their own staff they only get 2.75% because that’s all they can afford, whilst rejecting a 4.9% offer because that’s all the Government can afford. “It seems to me, the BMA aren’t willing to put their hands in their own pockets to pay their own staff, but they’re very happy to try and fleece your viewers, asking them to pay even more in tax than I think this country can afford.” And last week it emerged that senior medics will also be balloted on industrial action after ministers announced a 3.5% pay award. Simultaneous ballots of consultants and specialists, associate specialists and speciality (SAS) doctors will run from May 11 until July 6.
Published: by Radio NewsHub