Thank you for this important commentary on our study The practice of medicine in the UK is facing an existential crisis Deregulation and replacement of doctors is being driven by politicians and compliant professionals Patients and resident doctors will pay a high price

‘Faithful’ Wes has lost #NHS, lost the public & lost his chance to be PM Rattled by failures he is scapegoating ‘impossible, juvenile’ Resident Doctors & ‘laggards, stuck in 20th century, sabre rattlers’ GPs - all ‘moaning minnies’ Time for some grown up conversation & honesty

Good morning ..anyone want anything from Santa?

So doctors enjoy more public support for withdrawing their labour than every single political party in the UK has for doing their work? I'll take that!

@AnnabelDenham1 Obviously you are either not aware of the facts or are choosing to ignore them! Eye watering pensions no longer 'a thing' & medical students are riddled with debts with ridiculous interest rates, on top of that many parents subsidising their study!! Go do some real journalism!

@AnnabelDenham1 Public support for doctors could fall much further and it would still be higher than public support for telegraph journalists

The most shocking thing about delivering healthcare currently is there SEEMS TO BE ABSOLUTELY NO LONG TERM PLAN FROM GOVERNMENT. It just keeps getting worse every single year.

ID cards, limiting trial by jury, and now "plans for a huge rollout for facial recognition cameras in cities, towns and villages across the country" Labour laying the foundations for a far right government to build on #GMB

I'm only a humble ED doc but I can't help thinking that the problem in our EDs isn't caused by patients, it's caused by political failure. Last time I looked it wasn't patients with hiccups in my corridors, it was sick elderly patients who we couldn't get into a hospital bed

@AliJaneMoore @rcsloggett I had hope that things would change under labour. I’m sorely disappointed and don’t believe a word Mr Streeting says. To resort also to name calling shows that’s all he’s left with.

.@doctor_katie explains that simply creating another way for people to book GP appointments doesn't increase the number of appointments available, and the sheer volume of people now booking online is taking GPs away from face to face appointments to triage those bookings.

Speaking to @SkyNews yesterday, I wanted to make it clear we cannot have unemployed doctors searching for work while patients are waiting longer than ever for appointments. The solutions are simple and the problems are fixable. The gov has the money to fix both jobs and pay.

Yes we've had several of these requests sent straight to ED without propper triage or assessment. Mostly unnecessarily. I don't blame GPs. Increasing access without actually increasing capacity is a classic stupid government policy.

It's just apologies, frustration & cynicism all round. Scary times to be a patient. But really goddamn depressing and difficult times to be a doctor.

You can drive yourself a bit mad with moral injury on a day like today. Trying to rush. To keep the people who are still waiting for assessment safe. But being too quick to give the best version of yourself to patients. There's no winning.

@itvnews Funny how Wes doesnt care about this on non-strike days

Today was really bleak in A&E. A department built for around 50-70 patients at once trying to manage 180+. Loads of unnecessary presentations but loads of sick people too. Huge waits to be seen, huge waits for a ward bed, not enough nurses/drs. Emergency care is overwhelmed.

@AliJaneMoore It tells the truth. Which unless you are actually seeing it in real life, or a loved one has, no one seems to believe. I actually think we need more of this reality to be shown.

This is a low blow from the ever petulant Wes Streeting. He is currently throwing fuel on a fire of angry resident drs who have been repeatedly let down by the system.

If the gov really wants to sort out these disputes with doctors, it should dial down the rhetoric (as should the BMA). Entrenched positions on either side won't help. And at some point he will need to get round the table with people he has just called juvenile delinquents.