Labour MP Andrew Pakes has expressed confidence that Health Secretary Wes Streeting can "get a deal done" with resident doctors who have voted to mount strikes in support of a new pay claim.
The comments come as resident doctors in England announced plans to stage a five-day walkout from 7am on July 25 until 7am on July 30, the British Medical Association announced on Wednesday.
The strike follows a ballot in which over 26,000 resident doctors voted in favour of industrial action, with fewer than 3,000 opposing it.
Speaking during PMQs Live on GB News: "I think we've already seen from Wes and this Labour Government a serious attempt to start fixing the NHS.
Andrew Pakes expressed confidence in the Health Secretary
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"You're absolutely right to talk about the pay increase that all staff across the NHS have had. For too long, we saw NHS cuts. We saw staff who weren't respected. We saw real pressure on it.
"And all my constituents will know the problems the NHS has faced. I started my working life as a union official, and I know negotiations matter, so I want to see the doctors back around the table."
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He added: "Wes has been out this morning, they had up to over 28 per cent last year, they've had the highest pay increase across the public sector.
"This year, there is lots more to work on, not just about pay, it's about conditions. It's about shifts, it's about progression. There is a huge amount we can work on and I think Wes is the man who can get a deal done."
Asked why doctors are demanding another huge pay increase, Pakes said: "All of us use the NHS. I don't think I've done a single surgery where someone hasn't turned to me and said they're frustrated about waiting lists, not being able to see a GP or get a dental appointment.
"I also get the frustration NHS staff are facing. This is like a tinderbox that this Government inherited in the way that staff, doctors, nurses, all the NHS family have been treated over the last decade.
"So I get the frustration, but the best way to resolve that is to work with the Government. We're all in this to try and make life better for patients. And I think that's a deal that Wes can get."
In response, Alan Mak, Shadow Science Minister, said: "We can't have a situation where the Government caves into the unions but asks for nothing in return, no conditions, no productivity improvements, and no sensible negotiation.
"As we've seen on this programme before, when Labour negotiates, on Chagos, for example, Britain loses.
"This is what's happened to the NHS, and it's patients [that are] going to pay the price. That's unacceptable."
Streeting has said that doctors had already received pay rises "significantly higher than affordability" this year,
GB NEWSIn a letter to the BMA on Wednesday, Streeting expressed disappointment that despite the majority of resident doctors not voting to strike, the union was continuing to threaten industrial action.
"By choosing to strike instead of working in partnership to improve conditions for your members and the NHS, you are squandering an opportunity," he wrote.
The Health Secretary emphasised that doctors had already received pay rises "significantly higher than affordability" this year, made possible through back-office efficiency savings.
Downing Street backed Streeting's position on Tuesday, stating: "We are not going to reopen negotiations on pay."
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