Angry Britons have hit out at junior doctors amid their talks with new Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who is bidding to avert the threat of future strikes.
While no strikes are planned, the UK could face another medical staff walkout if they do not come to an agreement with the new Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
The BMA (British Medical Association) confirmed after talks with the new Labour Health Secretary that there are no plans for strikes "at the moment".
Newly elected Streeting is seeking to agree a pay deal with doctors to avoid the threat of the NHS being hit by walkouts that could continue into 2025.
Streeting claims to have put the junior doctors’ dispute at the top of his list and called unions in England on “day one” of a Labour government, following his warning that the health service is “broken."
One person said he hopes that Labour help the NHS
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Speaking about the potential walkout, one Brit said: "One of their [Labour's] big pledges is to help out the NHS.
"I guess it must be dispiriting for junior doctors. You hear this stuff on the news where they've just finished the 12-hour shift, they've gone home and on the way home stopped to get a coffee, and the people at the coffee shops earn more per hour than what they do."
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Another Briton said: "I don't think they should go on strike because there are people in the hospital.
"People in the hospital need help and getting told to wait 10 to 15 hours? I think the doctors shouldn't go on strike. They're getting enough money as it is."
Whilst a third agreed: "I don't think they'll strike a deal because it's all to do with pay. They're all greedy.
"They all just keep wanting more and more money. Where's the love in the world? I'm at the hospital all the time waiting 12 to 13 hours."
Another said that doctors get paid enough
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Both sides are hopeful negotiations can move quickly, given the union’s current mandate for industrial action lasts until September 19 and Parliament goes into recess on July 31.
If a deal has not been done by that stage, another re-ballot is expected.
Should BMA members vote in favour of continuing industrial action, which they’ve signalled is likely without a deal, the next mandate would last until spring next year.
Junior doctors in England first walked out in March 2023 calling for pay restoration to 2008 levels, equivalent to a 35 per cent pay rise.
Another said that they are "all greedy"
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The BMA will not move from that key demand although the union has said it would accept a multi-year pay offer from the Government if that met its objective.
PM Keir Starmer said last week that he will not cave to the union's demands.
He told The Independent: “With negotiations, we need to find a way through it.
"But you know, to be absolutely blunt, we’re not going to 35 per cent; they know that and we are being clear about it from the outset"
