RESIDENT doctors in England have agreed a “window for negotiations” with Health Secretary Wes Streeting, the British Medical Association (BMA) said today.

This follows last week’s five-day strike over the government’s refusal to meet their demand for pay restoration.

Dr Ross Nieuwoudt and Dr Melissa Ryan, who co-chair the union’s resident doctors committee, said that they had met Mr Streeting and had an “informative” conversation on Tuesday, adding that they believed they had “achieved a greater mutual understanding than in previous talks.”

They added: “We were very clear about the determination of resident doctors to return to a fair level of pay.

“We want to work with the Department of Health and Social Care to deliver on non-pay items it previously agreed to and to forge mutual respect following years when the previous incumbents seemingly cared little for doctors’ pay or wellbeing.

“We are clear, though, that, going forward, there has to be movement on pay.

“We also reminded Mr Streeting of the urgent need to provide enough jobs for doctors and bring an end to the current situation where thousands of resident doctors apply for far too few roles, leaving many unable to progress their careers and go on to be our future consultants, GPs and other specialist doctors.

“We are working to ensure strike action does not need to be repeated and will give time to explore solutions.”

The Department of Health and Social Care described the conversation as “constructive” and said that Mr Streeting had agreed to “continue engagement through the summer…

“There is shared ambition to explore and address some of the unique additional costs that resident doctors incur through their training and work.”