Speaking to the Health and Social Care Committee this afternoon, Streeting said the decision by resident doctors to walk out for five days from 25 July was ‘unreasonable and unnecessary', as well as ‘self-defeating'.

Streeting said it would be a ‘catastrophic mistake' to throw away progress, ‘at a time when the NHS is moving in the right direction, when waiting lists are falling, GP numbers are going up and people are feeling a sense of cautious optimism about the NHS future'.

The health secretary said it was ‘shockingly irresponsible' that the BMA appeared to be telling its members not to inform their trusts or their employers if they were going out on strike.

NHSE chief executive Sir Jim Mackey said: ‘I really hope that this is avoidable, but we also can't allow this to play out in a way that it did last time, with a huge impact on people's lives and colleagues working in the service, through cancelation and a disruption of clinical pathways that is very hard to quantify the impact on.'

Streeting added: ‘It's not too late, even at this late stage, for us to get back on the path I wanted us to be on, of working together, of driving real improvements for resident doctors and for patients, but it is going to require a different mindset.'

A BMA spokesperson said: ‘The law is quite clear that no one should feel pressured into telling their employer about their plans to strike. This is fundamental to the rights of workers to protect their ability to take industrial action. Our approach has not changed since the last round of strike action, and we did not receive this response from the previous government.

‘We also remind employers that even those doctors who inform hospitals they intend not to strike can change their mind. The safe option is always to assume resident doctors are striking, and plan accordingly.

‘We will work with NHS England to ensure that strike action is safe for patients. In previous rounds we were quick to act in the interests of patient safety through our derogations process. We believe the evidence shows  we can strike safely.

‘If NHS England wish to raise new concerns about the derogations process that has previously functioned well they will need to discuss this with us urgently.'