The British Medical Association, the doctors’ union, has made a public declaration of war on the Health Secretary who has come out to fight the challenge. The BMA has decided to turn winter and Christmas into a favorable opportunity for strikes. As part of this, the organization has announced a five-day strike to push the NHS and patients into disaster before Christmas.
The new announcement to hold a five-day strike in December aims to completely . Thousands of resident doctors are going on strike from December 17 to December 22, just before Christmas. The British Medical Association claimed that there was no other option but to announce more strike dates when the government did not put forward any new offer.
The BMA, which has gone on strike 13 times since 2022, had also gone on strike two weeks ago. However, figures have also emerged that doctors have shown reluctance in the last strikes. The decision to strike for five consecutive days comes after this.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has condemned the move as a ploy to ruin Christmas. NHS bosses have also accused the BMA of adding fuel to the fire as the fight intensifies. The winter season is also a time when NHS services are in high demand. With flu cases on the rise, pressure will mount when staff fall ill. Resident doctors were granted a 5.4% increase in May, taking into account public sector pay increases .
But the BMA claims that a 29.2% pay increase is now needed. The relationship between Streeting and the BMA has deteriorated with the resident doctors’ strikes. The Health Secretary alleges that the British Medical Association’s approach has become intolerable. Wes Streeting is directly clashing with the doctors’ union, criticizing it for sharing misleading information.
It was made easier for patients to contact GPs online between 8am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday. But the Health Secretary has written directly to 50,000 GPs expressing anger at the BMA’s changes to this process. This is being interpreted as an unusual move.
The BMA, which was the sole intermediary in relation to GPs’ annual contracts, has been removed from this position by the Health Secretary. The BMA GP committee leaders accused ministers of being cheats and liars. With this, they have sent a direct letter to GPs addressing them.
