NHS cannot be switched off on a whim, says health secretary

The NHS “doesn’t just belong” to the British Medical Association’s (BMA) junior doctor’s committee, the Health Secretary has said as medics continue their record-breaking walkout.

Speaking on a visit to the London Ambulance Service on Thursday (4 January), Victoria Atkins said that the health service “cannot be switched on and off on whim” as she warned that the walkouts are having “very serious consequences” for patients and other NHS workers.

Junior doctors in England are in the middle of a six-day strike, the longest walkout in NHS history.

Ms Atkins promised to start talks in 20 minutes if the strikes were called off.