BMA says government offer creates no new doctors as Streeting warns NHS at 'one minute to midnight'

Credit: Getty Images/Tim Parker

By Claudia Tanner

Health secretary Wes Streeting has warned that the NHS is "effectively" at "one minute to midnight" if resident doctors proceed with planned Christmas strikes, but the British Medical Association has dismissed the government's latest offer, insisting it will create no additional doctors.

The BMA is balloting members on a new government proposal that includes 4,000 training posts, but union chair Jack Fletcher said these "will be repurposed from 'locally employed' roles already present in the health service", with only 1,000 starting in 2026.