Strikes ‘will cause real damage’, Keir Starmer says
Sir Keir Starmer made a last-minute appeal to resident doctors, saying the strikes would “cause real damage”.
“The route the BMA Resident Doctors Committee have chosen will mean everyone loses. My appeal to resident doctors is this: do not follow the BMA leadership down this damaging road. Our NHS and your patients need you,” he wrote in The Times.
He added: “Most people do not support these strikes. They know they will cause real damage.”
“Behind the headlines are the patients whose lives will be blighted by this decision. The frustration and disappointment of necessary treatment delayed. And worse, late diagnoses and care that risks their long-term health.
“It’s not fair on patients. It’s not fair on NHS staff who will have to step in for cover for those taking action. And it is not fair on taxpayers.
“These strikes threaten to turn back the clock on progress we have made in rebuilding the NHS over the last year, choking off the recovery.”