Health secretary says he cannot solve striking doctors’ problems in just two years

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said he cannot solve all the problems facing striking doctors in his first two years in office and attacked the paramedics union for “acting like they could”.

Mr Streeting revealed on Sunday that he had written to the British Medical Association and wanted to meet with the entire Junior Doctors’ Committee, some of whom he described as “quite rigid”, rather than just the two chairmen who have so far led the negotiations.

In his letter to the RDC on Sunday, Mr Streeting said: “The deal is not everything you want, but it is what the country can afford. “As Secretary of State for Health and Social Care I do not pretend to have solved in less than two years all the problems facing your profession after fourteen years of mismanagement under the previous government.

“In return, I ask you to stop pretending that this government can solve everything for everyone, everywhere, all at once.”

Junior doctors launched a six-day strike action on Tuesday this week after the government rejected a deal made last week.

To talk Sky News On Sunday the health minister said he was “furious at the BMA” over the six-day strike launched this week. He called the reason for their strike this week “absurd” and described their behavior as “irrational”.

He later told BBC One: “We’ve gone as far as we can, I’m not going to close the door on the BMA, I’m not claiming I can solve all their problems in two years, the BMA needs to stop acting like I can.

“There needs to be some give and take… BMA resident doctors have stepped outside the government, they need to accept that.”

Mr Streeting’s request to meet the BMA junior doctors’ committee was met with one of the chairmen, Dr. It comes after Jack Fletcher said the minister had unexpectedly changed the terms of a negotiated pay deal, triggering strike action from Dr Fletcher this week.

Referring to his letter, Mr Streeting told the BBC: “I don’t just want to meet the chairmen, I will anyway, I want to talk to the whole committee, these are the people who have rejected the deal on the table and these are the people who have publicly refused to meet for the last two years.”

“They are the only people who have refused to meet with me in the last two years, and considering they are the ones making the decisions, I think it is time for me to talk to the organ grinders.”

Mr Streeting’s letter to the Junior Doctors’ Committee on Sunday said: “I will not attempt to hide my disappointment and disappointment at your latest strike action. Deliberately timed after the Easter break to cause maximum inconvenience to colleagues and maximum disruption to the NHS, it was both unnecessary and unreasonable…”

Mr Streeting said it was “disheartening to see the same civil servants now publicly criticizing the agreement they agreed to and completely misrepresenting the Government’s actions”.

“Consequently, I think it is time for you to accept my repeated invitation to meet with the full BMA Junior Doctors Committee, without making a counter offer, to discuss the agreement you have refused to offer to your members,” he added.

The letter says that while much of the previous agreement remains on the table, the financial and operational impact of this week’s strikes means the trusts will not be able to deliver on the promise of 1,000 extra teaching places this year, which was part of the rejected deal.

“This is not a threat. This is not a punishment. This is not a choice I made. It is the reality of the operational and financial situation we currently find ourselves in, as my team and I have repeatedly explained from the beginning that the same will be true for your officers,” he continued.

“Funds allocated to covering shifts and managing disruptions cannot also be invested in creating new training positions.”

The health minister said RDC chairmen believed the agreement addressed doctors’ concerns and priorities and were therefore “surprised and disappointed” by accusations that the government had moved the goalposts at the last minute.

“This is absolutely not true,” he added.

The BMA has been approached for comment.