Rishi Sunak today admitted the situation facing NHS hospitals is not ‘the place we want to be’ as he insisted the plan is working.
The Prime Minister called for more time to turn around the fortunes of the ailing health service, saying: “I know things will get better.”
It comes as trainee doctors demanding pay rises of up to £20,000 brought the struggling health service to a standstill again.
It is the tenth time since March that trainee doctors have walked out as the bitter pay row with the government shows no signs of slowing.
The ‘militant’ leader of the British Medical Association (BMA) junior doctors group claimed the government is ‘very happy the strikes are happening’.
Grilled about the never-ending wave of action that has forced hospitals to cancel more than a million appointments and operations, Mr Sunak told BBC Radio York: ‘I come from an NHS family, of course I don’t want to shut it down’ Pictured during a visit to Haxby in Yorkshire
Today’s ongoing strike marks the tenth time since March that trainee doctors have walked out as the bitter pay row with the government shows no signs of slowing. Pictured are doctors on the picket line outside St Thomas’ Hospital in Westminster
Grilled about the never-ending wave of action that has forced hospitals to cancel more than a million appointments and operations, Mr Sunak told BBC Radio York: ‘Are we where we want to be? Not yet.
‘Are we making progress? Yes, the plan works. If we stick with it, I know things will get better.”
Mr Sunak added: ‘I come from an NHS family, of course I don’t want to undermine it.
‘We’re investing a record amount in more funding, so it’s never been higher – more doctors, more nurses, and we’re making improvements.
“Look, that’s not going to happen overnight.
‘But if you look at the performance of ambulances and emergency services this winter, it is better than last winter. So that is progress.
‘When it comes to waiting lists, we have seen that waiting lists have started to decrease in recent months.
‘And that’s because we haven’t had that many industrial actions.
‘There is of course talk of industrial action again, but at the end of last year we had no industrial action in October and November and the waiting list has fallen by about 150,000.’
By the end of the latest strikes at 11.59pm on Wednesday, hospital doctors will have lasted 44 days or 1,056 hours of industrial action, equivalent to around 12 per cent of the year.
More than 1.3 million appointments have been canceled, with 7.6 million waiting to begin treatment and millions more waiting for continued care.
Emergency services remain open on strike days and officials have told Britons they need urgent medical care to still seek help as normal.
From a picket line at St Thomas’ Hospital in Westminster, Dr Rob Laurenson, co-chair of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, said: ‘I don’t think the Government wants to end this dispute.
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‘I think they are very happy that the strikes are happening. And I think they’re letting everyone down.
‘I find it difficult to understand whether this is incompetence or malice. Either way, it fails everyone.”
Dr. Laurenson added: ‘This round of action is because Victoria Atkins (Health Secretary) said in December that she would be back around the table in 20 minutes with a new offer. But those twenty minutes turned into twenty days.
“So they sent a deputy minister who said they had no further offers, so the government lied.”
Trainee doctors are calling for a pay recovery, saying they have suffered real pay cuts of more than a quarter since 2008. This amounts to approximately 35 percent.
“We have done our very best every time in terms of goodwill to ensure we can run a service, but the government is making up for that with pay cuts,” Dr Laurenson said.
Junior doctors in their first year now have a basic salary of £32,300, while those with three years’ experience earn £43,900. The oldest earn £63,100
The latest industrial action began at 7am on Saturday, with trainee doctors returning to work at 11.59pm on Wednesday. Junior doctors outside Manchester Royal Infirmary this morning
Ministers have given trainee doctors an average pay increase of 8.8 percent for the 2023/2024 financial year. However, the increase was larger for first-year doctors, who received a boost of 10.3 percent. Pictured is a black cocker spaniel wearing a BMA hat on the picket line outside St Thomas’ Hospital
‘We are seeing the absolute collapse of goodwill. It has long been said that the NHS runs on goodwill, and now that we have seen that collapse, I think we are also seeing the consequences of the collapse of the NHS.”
The latest industrial action began at 7am on Saturday, with trainee doctors returning to work at 11.59pm on Wednesday.
Ministers have given trainee doctors an average pay increase of 8.8 percent for the 2023/2024 financial year.
However, the increase was larger for first-year doctors, who received a boost of 10.3 percent.
In December, Health Minister Victoria Atkins offered them an additional 3 percent increase in an attempt to prevent further strike action.
But the union still called the improved amount “completely insufficient.”
Junior doctors in their first year now have a basic salary of £32,300, while those with three years’ experience earn £43,900. The oldest earn £63,100.