I am a Labour prime minister who believes in workers’ right to strike. But let’s be clear about the strikes planned by resident doctors next week. They should not happen. They are reckless. They place the NHS and patients who need it in grave danger.
I remain hopeful they can be averted. A good deal is on the table, and the British Medical Association (BMA) is putting it to members this weekend. My message to the doctors is simple – take it.
After all, you are no longer fighting a government that sees industrial conflict as a way to score cheap political points. We recognise the damage caused by years of Tory austerity. With this government, your pay has increased by 28.9% over the past three years. We have invested a record amount in the NHS, cutting waiting times. And we have listened to your concerns about jobs and training.
That is what’s new about the latest deal. We are offering legislation that will prioritise British medical graduates for speciality training jobs starting next year. We will boost the number of places by 4,000, giving new hope to doctors without a job next year. And we have offered to cover the costs of other training expenses such as royal college membership and exam fees.
But we also made another offer to the BMA leadership: the chance to extend their mandate so strikes could be rescheduled for after Christmas if our offer was rejected. Don’t get me wrong – of course I would rather they were cancelled. I would rather resident doctors take a deal that improves their training and career prospects and puts money in their pockets. But under the circumstances, I wanted to be sure we have left no stone unturned in our efforts to protect the NHS.
Because be under no illusions, those circumstances are potentially dire. The “super flu” epidemic sweeping the country means this is the NHS’s most precarious moment since the pandemic. Last week, an average of 2,660 hospital beds each day were occupied by flu patients – up 55% on the week before and much higher than this time last year. And the epidemic is still growing.
Having lived through a pandemic, we all know what this means. It means a battle. On hospital wards across the country, NHS staff will be working around the clock to make sure patients get the care they need and the NHS stays above water. In fact, 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.
So resident doctors should vote to stop them. For patients, for the NHS and for the entire country, this dispute should now end. A fair deal for doctors is on the table. And instead of conflict this Christmas, we can come together to improve the NHS we love.
Keir Starmer is the prime minister of the United Kingdom
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