TENS of thousands of resident doctors across England started their six-day strike today after the government took a key part of its offer off the table.

The Department of Health and Social Care said last week that an offer of 1,000 extra training places would no longer be “financially or operationally” possible.

Speaking outside St Thomas Hospital in London, British Medical Association (BMA) resident doctors committee chairman Dr Jack Fletcher said: “There are doctors here this morning who have left the NHS because they don’t feel valued, they don’t feel able to progress.

“So we don’t only need more, but we need to stop doctors from leaving. Last year, more doctors than in the last decade left the NHS, and we need to stop that from happening by valuing them.”

He previously accused Health Secretary Wes Streeting of failing to “acknowledge a deal was taking shape until his government quietly watered it down.”

Today marked the start of their 15th strike since 2023. Resident doctors have been locked in negotiation with the government over the number of available jobs and pay cuts.

While putting the blame on the failed deal on the BMA, Mr Streeting claimed the total costs of walkouts to have gone above £3 billion, and said this latest six-day action would cost the health service £300m.

Speaking to Times Radio, the Health Secretary said: “I didn’t remove those training places, the BMA did when they rejected the deal – they seem to think they can have all of the benefits of the deal at the same time as rejecting it.”

The BMA’s Dr Fletcher in turn said the government was “reducing the money on the table, then stretching what was left over too many years to make it worthwhile.”

“We recognise there’s been progress on a number of fronts, but ultimately the government needs to move on both jobs and pay to resolve these disputes for not only doctors, but crucially for patients as well.

“One thousand places, gone, overnight, one thousand opportunities for doctors who have studied hard, dedicated their lives to the NHS, destroyed.

“It’s this government that is holding patients hostage and using our next generation of consultants and surgeons as bargaining chips.”

The NHS has urged patients to seek help from the service as they normally would, despite saying the strike — the longest walkout by resident doctors — would be “difficult.”