TALKS to prevent more doctor strikes in England resumed today as Health Secretary Wes Streeting admitted walkouts are in no-one’s interest.

He said this week’s talks with the chair of the British Medical Association’s (BMA) Resident Doctors Committee must “bridge the gap” between expectations on pay and “what the government can afford.” 

Resident doctors are being balloted on whether or not to continue strike action over jobs and pay following a five-day strike over the Christmas period.

The BMA says the government’s 4 per cent basic pay offer and £750 consolidated payment to doctors in England for 2025/26, alongside measures to increase specialty training posts, amount to real-term cuts after inflation. 

It estimates that resident doctor pay remains 21 per cent less than levels in 2008 despite two successive increases under Labour.

Mr Streeting said: “My message to resident doctors is that it’s clearly not in their interests, or the government’s interests, or patients’ interests (or) in the interests of other staff for us to set the NHS back with ongoing industrial action.

“I’m not going to make the mistake of my predecessors of closing the door to the BMA because they’ve been on strike.

“We will continue to talk to try and find resolution.

“I think we’re in a good place on jobs, and we’re not far apart there at all, but candidly, we’re further apart on pay, and we’ve got to bridge the gap between the BMA expectations and what the government can afford, and I can only go as far as we can afford, no further.”

The minister added that he “aims to spend less” on translation services in the NHS following reports in The Sun.