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Wes Streeting has accused the British Medical Association (BMA) of being “impossible” and issuing “misleading” information in an escalation of tensions with the doctors union.
In an unusual move, the health secretary wrote on Thursday to England’s 50,000 GPs to convey his frustration with the BMA over recent changes that from last month made it easier for patients to contact them online between 8am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday.
He has underlined his concern about the union’s behaviour by ending its longstanding role as the sole negotiator of the annual GP contract that covers doctors’ pay and terms and conditions.
Streeting’s letter was prompted by a recent speech by the head of the BMA’s GP committee, Dr Katie Bramall, in which she accused ministers of being “traitors” to their profession and of betraying and lying to them.
In it, he referenced the speech that Bramall gave on 7 November to the annual conference of local medical committees – local groups of GPs – in England. She “accused the government of being ‘traitors’ to the profession and of ‘disingenuousness’, ‘duplicity’ and ‘gaslighting’,” Streeting wrote.
“This speech was not just deeply unprofessional and unbecoming of a professional representative body, it was misleading,” he added. “The BMA agreed these contract changes [on online access to GPs] in February 2025 and any suggestions to the contrary are factually incorrect.”
He said that the BMA was not displaying “mutual respect and professionalism” in its dealings with the government. “Your union representatives are currently making it impossible for me and my officials to engage in good faith in the way we would all want.”
The relationship between Streeting and the BMA has become increasingly fractious, mainly over the long-running series of strikes by resident – formerly junior – doctors over their pay and difficulties getting places to start training in their chosen medical specialty.
The union’s resident doctors committee (RDC) is weighing up whether to stage another strike – which would be their 14th since March 2023 – before Christmas, given their legal strike mandate expires on 6 January.
Streeting said the BMA agreed to expand patients’ digital access to GPs in the negotiations over this year’s contract, which concluded in February. However, the union claims that he is guilty of “broken promises” for not putting in place safeguards to stop already busy GP practices becoming “overwhelmed” as a result of patients submitting requests for help online.
Responding to Streeting’s letter, Bramall said a recent BMA survey had found that 42% of more than 1,300 practices that responded have had to reduce the number of face-to-face appointments they offer because GPs are so busy dealing with online communications.
“Fewer appointments and practice meltdown isn’t a win for patients or the profession,” she said.
Separately, Dr Tom Dolphin, the BMA’s chair of council, criticised the health secretary for revealing the reduction in the union’s role in drawing up the GP contract by publicising his letter.
“We would have much preferred the health secretary to contact the BMA privately and directly to seek de-escalation, rather than via the media. Governments do not get to decide their negotiating partners, and not should they,” he said.
Streeting will consult other bodies, including the Royal College of GPs and the NHS Confederation, in his negotiations over the GP contract for 2026-27, to dilute the BMA’s role.
The NHS England boss, Sir Jim Mackey, has urged the BMA to end the “doom loop” of strikes by resident doctors, especially during the winter, when the NHS comes under intense pressure.
The NHS and ministers are trying hard to end the standoff, which has seen what the BMA says is 20,000 doctors left unemployed and unable to progress their careers by securing places in specialty training, he said, in a letter to the RDC about the problem.
Each strike forces the NHS to prioritise safe care during the action and costs £250m, Mackey added. “Let’s do everything we can to avert industrial action during winter, when our patients really rely on us being there for them,” he said.
