00:00This industrial action was entirely avoidable. It was in the gift of the government to avoid this action over the
00:06last few days, over the last few weeks, and also over the last few months.
00:10It is in the government's gift to avoid this action, not just this week, but going forward.
00:15It's genuinely regrettable, and I'm very sorry to patients who have had their care rescheduled as a result of talks
00:21breaking down when the government shifted the goalposts at the last minute.
00:25However, I would say that the NHS remains open for urgent and emergency care.
00:31I was also reading this morning for those patients who have had care disrupted, that their care has been disrupted,
00:36for some of them, multiple months in a row.
00:39So we're seeing, even in months without strike action, we are seeing rescheduled care, disrupted care, because we don't have
00:44enough specialists.
00:45We don't have enough GPs in our NHS, and yet we are turning away 30,000 fully qualified doctors from
00:52progressing in their careers to get patients seen,
00:54and get patients treated. Those positions are clearly not tenable for the government, and it's entirely in the government's gift
01:00to avoid further industrial action
01:03if they're willing to come to the table, as they did for eight weeks, and talk constructively.
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