Resident doctors are set to walk out from 7am on 14 November to 7am on 19 November.
Earlier today Streeting set out a package that includes doubling speciality training posts to avoid doctors being out of work, and other incentives including covering the costs of mandatory exams and membership fees.
In a letter to resident doctors, he said: ‘The offer is one that will deliver more training places for resident doctors, put more money in your pockets, and improve your working lives.
‘It will also protect patients – and your fellow NHS staff – from the disruption and damage of industrial action should you choose to accept this offer.'
In the letter, he adds: ‘I must underline that the enormous financial pressures facing the country mean I am not able to go further on pay.
‘We cannot afford to do more at this time and no amount of strike action will change this.'
He said strike action ‘hurts patients, sets back our progress, costs the NHS £240m that could've been spent on frontline improvements'.
In a separate letter to the chairman of the BMA's resident doctors committee (RDC), Jack Fletcher, Streeting said that ‘if further strikes were to go ahead, I would simply not be able to afford to offer the non-pay package again'.
In response, Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of the BMA's resident doctors committee, said: ‘This does not go far enough. Even with this offer, thousands of doctors would still be unable to find a job. 30,000 doctors applied for 10,000 places this year. 1,000 more is not going to fix this crisis, nor come anywhere near doing so. Whatever else is true of this offer, Mr Streeting is still not facing up to the gravity of the situation: doctors facing unemployment while patients can't see a doctor.
‘We have also been clear with Government that they can call off strikes for years if they're willing to offer a multi-year pay deal that restores pay over time. Sadly, even after promising a journey to fair pay, Mr Streeting is still unwilling to move. In fact, he has just suggested another real terms pay cut.
‘Strikes can still be avoided but first there will need willingness to offer a pay deal and a genuine solution on jobs.'
