Doctors tell Wes Streeting there must be ‘less name-calling and more deal-making’ to avoid strikes in 2026
Doctors have warned health secretary Wes Streeting that “less name-calling and more deal-making” is needed to avoid another damaging attack on the NHS in 2026.
The BMA continued its five-day work stoppage last week after rejecting the government’s offer, which did not include a pay rise.
Ahead of the job action, the health secretary had accused the established doctors’ union, the British Medical Association (BMA), of being “self-indulgent” and “dangerous” and accused them of “juvenile delinquency” amid rising flu rates.
Mr Streeting said he wanted to end the dispute and ministers would continue talks with the BMA in the New Year.
As the strike ends, he said he is also worried about the coming days.
Mr Streeting told Observer On Sunday he said: “The period that concerns me… is the period when we need to try to improve the post-strike service. This period now coincides with the NHS’s busiest time of year.”
The BMA said it asked the health minister to enter new talks in a “constructive spirit”.
Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of the junior doctors’ committee, said: “There should be less name-calling and more deals in 2026. What we need is a viable solution to this employment crisis and a credible pathway to restoring the lost value of the profession. This should mean the creation of genuine new jobs and could include a responsible multi-year approach to restoring doctors’ pay.”
He added: “The tone of our eleventh-hour conversations before these strikes has given rise to optimism that the government has finally understood the frustrations of junior doctors in England. We are entering the new year with a renewed can-do spirit and hope Mr Streeting will do the same.”
Junior doctors are being asked to vote for industrial action for another six months.
Mr Streeting said the “double whammy” of strike action and flu posed the most serious threat to the NHS since he took the job.
He thanked all NHS staff who kept services going during an “extraordinarily challenging” month, saying they had made a “real difference”.
He added: “I do not want to see a single day’s strike in the NHS in 2026 and I will do everything I can to make this a reality. My door remains open, as always, and I am determined to continue discussions with the BMA in the New Year to put an end to these damaging cycles of disruption.”
