Wes Streeting wrote directly to resident doctors after the union rejected his latest offer to end the industrial dispute
Mr Streeting set out a package of measures and called on doctors to call off the "unnecessary" strike action – but his offer was rejected by the Resident Doctors Committee of the union.
The Department of Health and Social Care's offer included doubling of "additional" speciality training posts to avoid doctors being out of work, and other incentives including covering the costs of mandatory exams and membership fees.
However, the Government has flatly refused the headline pay demand of 28.9 per cent in negotiations.
After the offer was rejected, Mr Streeting wrote directly to resident doctors, saying: "I know many of you don't want to strike, I know you'll be worried about winter as I am, and I also know you want this government to go further.
"But I've got to tell you, in all honesty, that I've done everything I can to provide those additional training places and to go further on some of the out-of-pocket expenses that you incur. Despite constructive conversations your reps have rejected that offer, and I think this is a real missed opportunity."
He added: "I've always been clear that after a 28.9% pay increase for resident doctors and the largest pay awards across the public sector for the last two years, I simply cannot and therefore will not go further on pay this year."
"The huge financial pressures facing the country mean we cannot afford to do more at this time, and no amount of strike action is going to change that. It wouldn't be fair to other NHS and public sector workers, the NHS itself or the tax payer."
Resident doctors in England, formerly known as junior doctors, are set to strike for five days from Friday next week in an ongoing row over jobs and pay.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said resident doctors will walk out from 7am on November 14 to 7am on November 19.
In a statement, the chairman of the BMA's resident doctors committee (RDC), Dr Jack Fletcher, said: "This does not go far enough.
"Even with this offer, thousands of doctors would still be unable to find a job – 30,000 doctors applied for 10,000 places this year – 1,000 more is not going to fix this crisis, nor come anywhere near doing so.
"Whatever else is true of this offer, Mr Streeting is still not facing up to the gravity of the situation: doctors facing unemployment while patients can't see a doctor.
"We have also been clear with Government that they can call off strikes for years if they're willing to offer a multi-year pay deal that restores pay over time.
"Sadly, even after promising a journey to fair pay, Mr Streeting is still unwilling to move. In fact, he has just suggested another real-terms pay cut.
"Strikes can still be avoided but first there will need willingness to offer a pay deal and a genuine solution on jobs."
