Wes Streeting vows to begin negotiations with junior doctors next week

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The new health secretary, Wes Streeting, will be meeting with junior doctors next week to discuss putting an end to strikes as his first action in his new role.

After Labour scored a major victory in the general election, Wes Streeting was chosen to be the new health secretary for the Department for Health and Social Care, as had been predicted.

He assumes control of the office while the NHS deals with continuous strikes by junior doctors and a waiting list of 7.57 million people.

In his initial announcement as the health minister last Friday, he mentioned that he had a phone conversation with the junior doctors committee from the British Medical Association. He informed that discussions to resolve their strike will kick off next week.

"We made a commitment during the campaign to start negotiations promptly, and that is exactly what we are focusing on now."

Mr. Streeting has stated before that he cannot give in to junior doctors' demands for a 35 percent salary increase, but he has pledged to start discussions with the BMA once he is in a position of power.

His comment further emphasized: "Our assertion during the election that the NHS was facing its most significant crisis ever was sincere."

When we mentioned that patients are let down every day, it wasn't just empty words, but the harsh truth experienced by countless people.

Past administrations have been resistant to acknowledge these basic truths. However, in order to effectively treat a problem, you must first identify its cause.

"This administration will be transparent regarding the issues our nation is currently facing, and committed to addressing them. Starting today, the official stance of this government is that the NHS is in need of repair."

He mentioned that the government has been given permission by voters to make changes and improve the NHS, but admitted that the service will take time to improve and cannot be fixed right away.

Mr Streeting also mentioned: "Turning around the health service will require collaboration from everyone. It will be the responsibility of my department, every member of the government, and the 1.4 million NHS employees to make this mission a success."

"We have experience in this. In our previous term, we collaborated closely with NHS employees to achieve record-breaking patient satisfaction rates and reduce wait times. We have proven our ability to do it in the past, and we are confident we can achieve it again with their support."

Professor Philip Banfield, who is the BMA chair of council, wrote a letter to Mr Streeting. In the letter, he proposed collaborating to help the NHS recover. They want to resolve disagreements, reduce waiting lists, and provide better healthcare for both staff and patients.

He stated that it is necessary to resolve the disagreement over pay for junior doctors as quickly as possible, and expressed faith in their willingness to work together towards a solution. Professor Banfield's letter emphasized the importance of restoring pay and working collaboratively to reach a resolution.