Resident doctors in England will go ahead with planned strikes this week, in the middle of what NHS leaders have described as the 'worst case scenario' for the health service.
The doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, have rejected the government's latest offer to end the ongoing battle over pay and jobs, and will walk out on Wednesday (17 December) for five days.
Members of the British Medical Association voted against accepting the deal, which would have increased the number of training places, allowing early-career doctors to start training in their chosen medical speciality but not increased pay for the current financial year.
The strikes come in the middle of what has been described as a challenge to the NHS 'unlike any it has seen since the pandemic', as flu hospitalisations continue to rise.
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Health secretary Wes Streeting warned the walkout could be 'the Jenga piece that collapses the tower', while urging doctors to accept the offer.
The strike, which is the 14th staged by the union since March 2023, will have a huge knock-on effect on hospitals up and down the country already dealing with huge surges in the number of patients currently being admitted for flu.
NHS England's National Medical Director Meghana Pandit said the strikes, paired with the 'unprecedented wave of super flu' were leaving the health service 'facing a worst case scenario for this time of year'.
"Staff are being pushed to the limit to keep providing the best possible care for patients. The numbers of patients in hospital with flu is extremely high for this time of year," she added.
"Even worse, it continues to rise and the peak is not in sight yet, so the NHS faces an extremely challenging few weeks ahead."
Meanwhile, Keir Starmer said it was 'frankly beyond belief' that the strikes would go ahead in one of the NHS' worst periods in recent history.
"I am a Labour prime minister, who believes in workers’ right to strike," the PM wrote for the Guardian. "But let’s be clear when it comes to the strikes planned by resident doctors next week. They should not happen. They are reckless."
He added: "Right now, resident doctors’ colleagues will be cancelling operations, cancelling their Christmas leave and preparing for this coming storm. The idea that strikes could still take place in this context is frankly beyond belief."
However, the British Medical Association has criticised the government for 'scaremongering' the public and making them believe 'the NHS will not be able to look after them and their loved ones'.
Emma Rosemurgey