Streeting says he wants to avoid strikes next year as doctors return to work

Wes Streeting has said he does not want to see resident doctors strike for “a single day” next year, as they returned to work after a five-day walkout.

The Health Secretary said the strike, along with a rise in flu cases, had created the biggest threat to the NHS since he had come to office last year.

On Thursday, figures revealed the number of flu patients in hospitals in England had continued to rise – increasing by 18% to an average of 3,140 – although the rate of growth had slowed.

At the same point last year, the number was 2,629 while in 2023 it was 648.

Resident doctors in England voted to take industrial action in the run-up to Christmas as part of the British Medical Association’s dispute with the Government over jobs and pay.

They returned to work at 7am on Monday.

Mr Streeting said the British Medical Association’s (BMA) demand of an extra 26% pay rise was unaffordable on top of a large pay rise after Labour came into office in 2024.

He said: “The double whammy of strike action and flu this December posed the most serious threat to the NHS since I became Health and Social Care Secretary.

“The health service has only been able to cope because of the extraordinary efforts of the dedicated staff who work in it and the hardest yards are in the weeks ahead as we get the NHS through the busiest weeks of the year.

“To everyone who played a role in keeping NHS services running through this exceptionally challenging month, thank you for the real difference you have made.

“I do not want to see a single day of industrial action in the NHS in 2026 and will be doing everything I can to make this a reality. My door remains open, as it always has done, and I’m determined to resume discussions with the BMA in the new year to put an end to these damaging cycles of disruption.”

The strike followed the rejection of a new Government offer by BMA members, which aimed to tackle issues with training and job security.

According to the union, 83% of resident doctors voted to carry on with strike action while 17% said the offer was enough. Turnout was 65%.

On the first day of the walkout, Dr Layla McCay, from the NHS Confederation, told Sky News: “What healthcare leaders are telling us is that the impact we will see from these particular strikes will affect particularly things like the waiting lists, and the disruption that is being caused this week will be felt all the way into January and beyond.”

Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of the resident doctors committee at the BMA, said the union was keen to get round the table with Mr Streeting.

He said: “2026 must see less name-calling and more deal-making. What we need is a proper fix to this jobs crisis and a credible path towards restoring the lost value of the profession.

“That must mean the creation of genuinely new jobs and it could involve a responsible multi-year approach to restoring doctors’ pay.

“Those are solutions that mean we can build out our future workforce to end the current crisis, solutions which are very much within the Government’s power.”