Dr Jack FletcherUnion

“This offer is the result of thousands of resident doctors showing that they are prepared to stand up for their profession and their future. It should not have taken strike action but make no mistake: it was strike action that got us this far.”

chair of the BMA's resident doctors committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Wes Streeting improves offer to resident doctors in England in attempt to stop strikes ↗

“We're putting this offer neutrally and factually to members. There are some parts of this offer that contain things like important legislation, some way of fixing this jobs crisis, but let's be clear, there are no more doctors at the end of this.”

Chair of the BMA · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Starmer says resident doctors would be irresponsible to strike in face of flu crisis ↗

“Ministers were 'laying the blame for the failings of the NHS to cope with an outbreak of flu at the feet of resident doctors'”

Chair of the BMA resident doctors committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · ‘Beyond belief’ that resident doctors could strike amid flu crisis, says Starmer ↗

“Our members have considered the government's offer, and their resounding response should leave the health secretary in no doubt about how badly he has just fumbled his opportunity to end industrial action. Tens of thousands of frontline doctors have come together to say 'no' to what is clearly too little, too late.”

Chair of the BMA's resident doctors committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Resident doctors in England vote to go ahead with strike ↗

“Resident doctors in England have voted overwhelmingly to go ahead with this week's planned strike, because the government's latest offer fails to address the medical jobs crisis and does nothing to stem the exodus of medics from this country.”

Chair of the British Medical Association's UK resident doctors committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Why did doctors reject Wes Streeting’s offer? It still fails to treat us with respect | Jack Fletcher ↗

“The government's offer, made last Wednesday, involved simply 'repurposing' existing 'locally employed doctors' and amounted to 'just shuffling the deck chairs on a sinking ship'.”

Chair of the BMA resident doctors committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Officials fear NHS will be hit hard after resident doctors reject latest offer ↗

“If the government keeps up the pattern of denial, harsh words and rushed half-measures, then we are going to be stuck in the cycle of strikes well into the new year.”

Chair of the resident doctors committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Wes Streeting and resident doctors urged to agree to mediation to end strikes ↗

“doctors going out on strike were "making clear that they are willing to stand up for their profession against a totally avoidable jobs crisis"”

Chair of the BMA's resident doctors committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Resident doctors in England begin five days of strike action ↗

“Neither I, nor any of the resident doctor negotiating team, have spoken to Acas. We are aware of mediation services like Acas but at this stage we do not believe mediation is a route we need to consider.”

chair of the BMA resident doctors committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Acas offers to help break deadlock in resident doctors’ strike ↗

“This year, it is estimated that nearly 40,000 doctors will apply for about 10,000 specialty training places which the BMA's Jack Fletcher warns is causing many doctors to leave the NHS altogether.”

chair of the BMA resident doctors committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Thursday briefing: How pay erosion and job shortages pushed doctors to strike again amid winter flu surge ↗

“What we need is a proper fix to this jobs crisis and a credible path towards restoring the lost value of the profession. That must mean the creation of genuinely new jobs, and it could involve a responsible multi-year approach to restoring doctors' pay.”

chair of the resident doctors committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Resident doctors say they will resume talks to avoid further strikes with ‘can-do spirit’ ↗

“Ministers cannot be shocked that 93% of doctors have voted to strike after being recommended a pay cut this year by the same health secretary who promised a journey to fair pay. And without thousands more training posts, the bottlenecks in medical training are going to continue to rob brilliant young doctors of their careers.”

Chair of the BMA's resident doctors committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Resident doctors in England vote to continue industrial action for another six months ↗

“When the government began to shift the goalposts two weeks ago”

Chair of the BMA's resident doctors committee (RDC) · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Resident doctors in England to begin six-day strike after rejecting offer in pay dispute ↗

“it was 'misleading' of Streeting to claim that resident doctors had seen their pay rise by 35% over the last four years – that was 'wildly overstating the case' – because inflation over that period had eroded the value of the rise.”

RDC's chair · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS bosses say resident doctors’ strike will cause ‘maximum harm’ ↗

“We've been willing and have been talking constructively for the last two months and at the very last minute the government has shifted the goalposts of the pay offer.”

Chair of the BMA's UK resident doctors committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Keir Starmer gives resident doctors 48 hours to call off strike or lose training offer ↗

“The political rhetoric – threatening to remove training places – coupled with the way the government has communicated the offer, has needlessly and avoidably inflamed the dispute, ultimately pushing the chance of a deal further away. A final offer followed by threats that parts of the offer may be withdrawn is not the way to end this dispute.”

Chair of the BMA's resident doctors committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Resident doctors accuse Keir Starmer of sabotaging talks to end pay and jobs dispute ↗

“The health secretary may well be 'disappointed' but he is failing to acknowledge a deal was taking shape until his government quietly watered it down, reducing the money on the table, then stretching what was left over too many years to make it worthwhile.”

chair of the BMA's resident doctors committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS urges patients not to put off care as doctors in England prepare for strike ↗

“My colleagues and I have spent months in the negotiating room, and a deal was taking shape, yet at the last minute the government quietly watered it down, reducing the money on the table, then stretching what was left over too many years to make it worthwhile.”

BMA resident doctors committee chair · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Resident doctors’ strike has torpedoed pay rises and training posts, says Wes Streeting ↗

“peace talks had been 'making good progress right up until the point, in the last two weeks, when the government began to shift the goalposts'.”

chair of the union's resident doctors committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Doctors’ strike timed to cause havoc over Easter break, says NHS England chief ↗

“Then right at the last minute they not only reduced the amount of total investment … they reduced and stretched it … [and said:] 'Sorry, it has to be [over] three years.' Something happened. That's what triggered industrial action.”

Chair of the British Medical Association's resident doctors' committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Doctors’ leader claims new reduced pay offer killed chances of ending strikes in England ↗

“We had hoped that a change in leadership at the Department of Health and Social Care [DHSC] would lead to a change in approach. Sadly, we have run up against the same unwillingness to move we encountered under Mr Streeting.”

Chair of the BMA's resident doctors committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Resident doctors in England to stage four-day strike in June ↗

“Resident doctors have spoken. They have decided that the current offer is sufficient to continue on the road to pay restoration, and sufficient to address the absurd lack of jobs in the NHS. The strikes will now end.”

Chair of the BMA's resident doctors committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Resident doctors in England accept government offer on pay and jobs ↗