Wes Streeting “optimistic” after first pay talks with junior doctors

Labour’s new health and social care secretary Wes Streeting is “optimistic” that a resolution can be found to the junior doctors’ long running pay dispute after meeting them for face-to-face talks for the first time.

Following an initial phone call with junior doctor leaders on his first day in the role,1 Streeting met with representatives from the BMA on 9 July to begin formal talks.

In a statement made after the meeting, Streeting said he wanted “to hit the reset button on relations between the government and junior doctors” in order to bring their nearly two year old pay dispute to an end.

“It’s not going to be easy. This government has …