Rishi Sunak has stoked a row with health unions when he claimed to have settled pay disputes with nurses, consultants and speciality doctors.
The Prime Minister said the Government had reached a pay deal with every part of the NHS except for striking junior doctors.
He said: “The Government has now reached resolution with every other part of the NHS, nurses, midwives, paramedics, consultant doctors, speciality doctors most recently.
“So every other part of the NHS workforce, and I’m grateful to them for everything they’re doing, has reached a resolution with the Government on a reasonable fair pay settlement, the only people that haven’t are the junior doctors.”
Junior doctors in England are currently undertaking a six-day strike, which is the longest walkout in the history of the health service.
But the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) chief executive Pat Cullen blasted the Prime Minister, saying he was “forgetting basic facts” and was wrong because the union’s members had rejected his pay offer and remained in dispute.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said the Government’s pay offer for consultants and SAS doctors had been put to its members who are yet to vote on a decision.
In a post to X, formerly Twitter, the BMA wrote: “The PM says consultants and SAS doctors have settled their pay disputes. This is incorrect.
“We’ve put the Government’s offer to our members and they’ll now decide.
“We’re deeply disappointed the Government hasn’t made a credible offer we can also put to junior doctors.”
RCN’s Ms Cullen said the Government needs to get its act together.
She said: “The Prime Minister is forgetting basic facts, he never reached a pay resolution with nursing staff in the NHS.
“Our members rejected his pay offer and we remain in dispute.
“The Government needs to get its act together, it must offer nursing staff a far better pay offer this year.
“Just this week, nursing staff in Northern Ireland announced they will be taking to picket lines over pay.
“Rishi Sunak’s claims about waiting lists increasing because of industrial action have been debunked, but the fact remains they have risen on his watch.
“With over 70 per cent of the public backing strike action by nursing staff because of staffing levels, it’s clear the public support nurses continuing to fight for our NHS and our patients.”
Mr Sunak urged medics to “come back round the table so we can get everyone back in and we can start getting the waiting lists falling”.
The Government can get waiting lists down when there isn’t strike action within the NHS, the Prime Minister said.
