Labour's shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has doubled down on criticism of the doctors' union, saying it is 'ludicrous' people have to wait on the phone at 8am to see a GP
Wes Streeting has doubled down on his criticism of the doctors' union.Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has doubled down on his claims that the British Medical Association is an "obstacle" to reform in the NHS.Speaking on LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr, Mr Streeting said the doctors' union always pushed back "really strongly" whenever he mentioned reform for the health service.
"I understand the pressure that GPs are under and I’m certainly not going to start saying this is all the fault of these GPs when they’re working in a system that has been under-resourced," the shadow health secretary said. "I'm cross with the BMA because what I've said is where we are investing in the NHS after the election – if there is a Labour government – as we bring new staff in we've got to expect higher standards for patients and we’ve got to change the way we work.
"I can’t believe in the 21st century that we have a system for booking appointments where patients have to wait on the phone at 8 o’clock in the morning in order to get an appointment.Join shadow secretary Wes Streeting for a call-in on Shelagh Fogarty's show tomorrow"But whenever I've said things about reform the BMA push back really strongly.
"I can understand the defensive element to an extent but I'm afraid the BMA historically has been an obstacle to any conversation about reform."Every time I say something about reform the BMA condemns Labour and that’s not a serious way to engage."
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