Resident doctors have given Wes Streeting a new ‘window for negotiations’ but say he must use it ‘wisely’ to avoid more strikes.
British Medical Association representatives met with the health secretary on Tuesday, less than a week after ending a five-day walkout in a row over pay.
The union is demanding a 29 per cent pay rise despite receiving above-inflation pay uplifts totalling 28.9 per cent over the past three years.
Mr Streeting has insisted there is no more money available and says he will not be ‘held to ransom’ by the BMA.
He has offered to improve resident doctors’ working lives, including in areas such as training and exam fees, although was not enough to avert recent industrial action.
A joint statement from Dr Ross Nieuwoudt and Dr Melissa Ryan, co-chairs of the BMA’s resident doctors committee, said: ‘We met yesterday with Mr Streeting to once again reiterate what is needed to bring this dispute to an end.
‘We were very clear about the determination of resident doctors to return to a fair level of pay.
‘Our conversation was informative and we feel that we have achieved a greater mutual understanding than in previous talks.
‘We have agreed a window for negotiations, which we hope the Government will use wisely.’
The statement added that medics are working to ‘ensure strike action does not need to be repeated’.
‘We want to work with the Department for Health and Social Care to deliver on non-pay items it previously agreed to, and to forge mutual respect following years when the previous incumbents seemingly cared little for doctors’ pay or wellbeing,’ it added.
‘We are clear, though, that going forward there has to be movement on pay.
‘We are working to ensure strike action does not need to be repeated and will give time to explore solutions.
‘However, doctors and patients both deserve a resolution sooner rather than later.’
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘The Secretary of State had a constructive conversation with the BMA resident doctors co-chairs yesterday and agreed to continue engagement through the summer with the aim of preventing further disruption to the NHS and patients.
‘We have been clear that, following a 28.9 per cent pay rise for resident doctors, we cannot go further on pay this year, but there is shared ambition to explore and address some of the unique additional costs that resident doctors incur through their training and work.’
It comes after early analysis by NHS England claimed less than a third of resident doctors joined strike action last week.
The number of medics that took part in the walkout was down by 7.5 per cent (1,243) on the previous round of industrial action in July last year.
However, the BMA rejected this, saying complex work schedules and doctors taking leave make this information ‘almost impossible to know’.
More health workers are warning of strikes over pay amid growing anger in the NHS about the system for setting wage increases.
Unison today said its NHS members in England are far from happy with this year’s 3.6 per cent pay rise and warned that many are prepared to take strike action to challenge it.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing, Unite and GMB have also previously expressed their discontent, prompting fears of widespread walkouts going into winter.
Unison announced that seven in 10 of its members who responded to a consultation on the 2025/26 NHS pay award said they would back walkouts if the union was to ballot for strike action.
The union said the result should be a wake-up call for ministers, calling for urgent talks to address problems with the ‘outdated’ NHS salary structure and combine these with negotiations on next year’s wage rise.
The 3.6 per cent pay award barely matches inflation and has done nothing to lift staff morale, the Government was warned.
Ministers were accused of ‘hiding’ behind the NHS pay review body, which unions have criticised.
Unison said NHS workers were struggling to understand why the pay review body process has decided they are worth less than other public servants like teachers, police officers and doctors.
Unison head of health Helga Pile said the ‘groundswell of discontent will only grow’ if ministers to do get to grips with the problem.
She added: ‘This result must act as a wake-up call for ministers.
‘Health workers never want to strike but the outcome of the consultation shows the seriousness of the situation.
‘Staff know plans to transform the NHS won’t come to anything without them.’
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