'Patients are being held to ransom over strikes'

DOCTORS are "inflicting pain and misery on patients" and holding them to ransom by going on strike, the Health Secretary has said.

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Wes Streeting told LBC radio the five-day resident doctors' strike in England is "going to set us back" as he accused British Medical Association (BMA) "activists" of "damaging" NHS recovery.

In a heated conversation with a doctor, Niraj, from Harrow in north London, Mr Streeting said doctors should "own" the damage being done to patients by the strike, which began yesterday morning.

Niraj told Mr Streeting that "we all care about patient safety, none of us wants to be on strike, I would rather be at work" as he made points regarding a lack of training places and other workforce issues.