Wes Streeting has pledged to do all he can to avoid industrial action in 2026, as doctors in England return to work following a five-day walkout.

The health secretary said the strike, coupled with surging flu cases, constituted “the most serious threat to the NHS” since he began the role a year and a half ago.

He said: “The double whammy of strike action and flu this December posed the most serious threat to the NHS since I became health and social care secretary.

“The health service has only been able to cope because of the extraordinary efforts of the dedicated staff who work in it, and the hardest yards are in the weeks ahead as we get the NHS through the busiest weeks of the year.

“To everyone who played a role in keeping NHS services running through this exceptionally challenging month, thank you for the real difference you have made.

“I do not want to see a single day of industrial action in the NHS in 2026 and will be doing everything I can to make this a reality.

“My door remains open, as it always has done, and I’m determined to resume discussions with the BMA in the new eear to put an end to these damaging cycles of disruption.”

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Doctors’ strike begins at ‘worst possible time’ for NHS says health secretary

The strike took place after The British Medical Association (BMA) said 83% of English members had rejected a fresh proposal from the Labour government.

Sir Keir Starmer called the action “irresponsible”, while Mr Streeting accused the union of a “shocking disregard for patient safety”.

The BMA said the strike was “entirely avoidable” and has demanded a “credible offer” for English doctors to avert “real-terms pay cuts”.

The government’s offer had included a fast expansion of specialist training posts as well as covering out-of-pocket expenses such as exam fees.

It also offered to extend the union’s strike mandate to enable any walkout to be rescheduled to January.

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Flu hits record for time of year

It does not address resident doctors’ demand for a 26% salary rise over the next few years to make up for the erosion in their pay in real terms since 2008 – this is on top of a 28.9% increase they have had over the last three years.

Public support for the strikes is low, according to a recent YouGov poll.

The results showed 58% of those asked either somewhat or strongly opposed the industrial action, while 33% somewhat or strongly supported it.

The family of a Palestine Action prisoner on day 43 of a hunger strike says she could die in prison if the UK government does not intervene.

Teuta Hoxha, 29, has been on remand, awaiting trial for 13 months. Her sister told Sky News she suffers from continuous headaches, mobility issues, and can no longer stand for prayer.

They fear the worst.

“I know that she’s already instructed the doctors on what to do if she collapses and she’s instructed them on what to do if she passes away,” Teuta’s younger sister Rahma said. “She’s only 29 – she’s not even 30 yet and nobody should be thinking about that,” she added.

“She’s been on remand for over a year, her trial’s not until April next year and bail keeps getting denied.”

Rahma, 17, said despite ill health, Teuta calls her from prison every day to help with homework.

“She’s like my mother figure,” she said. “Our mother passed away when I was really young.

“Teuta took care of me and my siblings and made sure to read us bedtime stories. She’s always there for me and even from prison, she’s helping me do my homework and revise for exams.”

“My sister is a caring and loving person,” Rahma added. “It feels like the state has taken a piece of me.”

Teuta is among eight Palestine Action prisoners who have been on hunger strike. They are all on remand, awaiting trial for offences relating to alleged break-ins or criminal damage, with some having been in custody for over 12 months. They all deny the charges.

The hunger strikers demand an end to the UK’s hosting of weapons factories supplying arms to Israel, the de-proscription of Palestine Action, an end to mistreatment of prisoners in custody, and immediate bail.

Read more:
Five Palestine Action hunger strikers taken to hospital
Palestine Action can challenge terror ban after court verdict

Their families warn young British citizens will die in UK prisons having never been convicted on an offence.

UK law sets out custody time limits to safeguard unconvicted defendants by preventing them from being held in pre-trial custody for an excessive period of time. The regulations governing these limits require the prosecution to progress cases to trial diligently and expeditiously.

The government has said it will not intervene in ongoing legal cases.

Minister of state for prisons, probation and reducing reoffending Lord Timpson said: “These prisoners are charged with serious offences including aggravated burglary and criminal damage.

“Remand decisions are for independent judges, and lawyers can make representations to the court on behalf of their clients.

“Ministers will not meet with them – we have a justice system that is based on the separation of powers, and the independent judiciary is the cornerstone of our system. It would be entirely unconstitutional and inappropriate for ministers to intervene in ongoing legal cases.”

On Monday, Teuta is set to mark her 30th birthday behind bars. There will be no birthday cake, Rahma said.

“The only form of resistance she has is her body and that’s what she is using against the state.”

A spokesperson for HMP Peterborough declined to comment on specific individuals, but said all prisoners are managed in line with government policies and procedures.

They continued: “If any prisoner has specific complaints, we encourage them to raise them directly with the prison, as there are numerous channels available for addressing such concerns.”

Warning: This article contains references to suicide and sexual assault

“We spoke every day… whether it was Facetime, messaging, or calling. I stopped caring about me. I had anxiety and my aim was to help her. I was suicidal for sure, and I did express that to her regularly.”

Kira Mitchell, 35, was assigned a therapist by the NHS after a bereavement in her family.

At first, they bonded over shared interests, but it soon became clear that the therapist had blurred professional boundaries.

The therapist, who was meant to be helping her, began divulging personal details, leaving Kira feeling more like the therapist than the patient.

“I felt anxiety around her, I was so concerned about her wellbeing. She had a family issue, someone passed away, and she told me it should have been her.

“That’s really distressing anyway… but it was my therapist who is supposed to be looking after me.”

Kira started to feel that something wasn’t right soon after the therapist started calling her and hanging up. She would later say the calls were accidents.

“I stopped caring about me,” Kira says. “I had anxiety and my aim was to help her.”

As Kira’s mental health deteriorated, she reported the therapist’s behaviour and she was dismissed.

But that therapist continues to practice privately – there’s nothing stopping her from calling herself a therapist in the UK today.

She remains on a professional register and advertises her services online, without any public record of what happened.

The legal grey zone

In the UK, anyone can call themself a therapist – as Kira’s story shows.

There is no regulation for counsellors and psychotherapists, while only certain types of psychologists are regulated.

These titles aren’t legally protected, so in practice, anyone can set themselves up as a therapist, without formal training, qualifications, or oversight; even after misconduct.

And not many people know this.

According to the latest figures from the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and YouGov, nearly half (48%) of Britons mistakenly think that therapist is a regulated title like a doctor, midwife or dentist.

Meanwhile, nearly nine in 10 people don’t know that there are no regulations around the title “therapist” in the UK, the BACP/YouGov found.

Since the COVID pandemic, the demand for mental health support has surged, alongside a cultural boom in ‘therapy-speak’ across social media, wellness, and self-help spaces.

There have also been some high-profile cases of people being abused by their therapists.

In 2024, Ella Janneh won a civil case against therapist Michael Lousada, who sexually assaulted her during a therapy session. His defence was that Ms Janneh asked for penile penetration as a “therapeutic technique”.

Labour MP Dawn Butler, who was present at the civil court case, says the situation is urgent.

“This has to be a regulated industry,” she told me. “It’s such an abuse of power and of someone’s vulnerability, and this needs to be looked into further and the law needs to change.”

Last December, “slapping therapist” Hongchi Xiao was jailed for 10 years after a diabetic woman died following one of his workshops.

While voluntary registers like those maintained by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) exist, they are not legally mandated.

This lack of statutory regulation means there is no guarantee of competence or accountability for those using these titles.

Lib Dem MP Layla Moran, chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, told me she fears “more people will die”.

“We’ve seen some tragic cases of this happening,” she said. “It’s simply not good enough. It leaves families bereft, but it also means that good therapists, people who are doing it for the right reasons, are tarnished by this brush.”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting told me that he shares concerns over the lack of regulation.

“I’m always open to looking at this,” he said.

“I think we do need to make sure that people can’t be duped, that people who present themselves as medical professionals, are medical professionals.

“So, I am very happy to get into this space and to look at where the law needs to be tightened up.”

Alternative therapy

Demand for therapy is surging – with mental health services in England getting a record 5.2 million referrals during 2024 (up 37.9% from 2019), according to the British Medical Association (BMA).

Services like Better Help and other apps have become like Uber for the mental health world, allowing users to sign up and be matched with the next available licensed board-accredited therapist within days.

But unregulated therapy isn’t a problem for everyone.

With no legal protection around who can call themselves a counsellor, psychotherapist, or even psychologist, clients often rely on trust, personal rapport, or reputation rather than verified training or credentials.

This kind of situation is surprisingly common.

According to the same research from the BACP and YouGov, only half of people who have been in therapy say they checked their practitioner’s qualifications at all.

‘Therapist asked me to drive her to Selfridges’

Maryam Meddin is the founder of The Soke, an organisation she started to address the unregulated grey area in the industry.

The issue is something she has personal experience of.

“I was very interested in finding a therapist and somebody recommended someone to me who was visiting from the States.

“I ended up having a two-hour session with a woman who made herself breakfast while I was there… she divulged some information about the mutual acquaintance, who was also one of her clients, and at the end of the session she asked me to drive her to Selfridges.”

Maryam says that it would be “a step in the right direction” if it was made compulsory – through statutory regulation – for therapists to be accredited to a particular body or organisation.

The UKCP agrees with this and says it would support statutory regulation of the profession.

Patients ‘putting huge trust in therapists’

The Professional Standards Authority (PSA), a healthcare regulator, said it is concerned about people accessing unregistered therapists “and the harm that can be caused”.

“Service users are placing a huge amount of trust and confidence in their therapists,” it told Sky News.

Kira’s therapist is still registered with the UKCP, which says it cannot comment on individual cases.

There is an ongoing investigation – Kira’s therapist appealed against the NHS decision, and interim suspension orders from the UKCP are only for extreme cases.

The NHS Trust which assigned Kira’s therapist says it is “unable to comment on individual employment matters” but adds the “safety and wellbeing of our patients is our highest priority”.

A spokesperson added: “The NHS is not responsible for regulating or overseeing private therapy practice and any concerns about a therapist’s conduct in private practice should be raised directly with that organisation or regulator.”

Meanwhile, the UKCP said: “In the absence of statutory regulation, we urge anyone seeking therapy to choose a practitioner listed on a PSA-accredited register, such as UKCP’s.

“These registers are independently assured, set high standards for training and ethics and include clear systems for accountability and redress if something goes wrong.”

Placing trust in ethics and transparency

The word therapy has a lot of weight to it, and it’s used everywhere.

It’s become less taboo to hear people talking about their mental health and for millions of people around the UK it’s an important part of their lives.

The UK hasn’t seriously considered regulating the profession since 2010, when discussions that were previously held under the Labour government stalled when the Conservative/LibDem coalition took power.

Years later, the landscape has transformed: therapy has become an online talking point popularised by Instagram infographics, trauma-language TikToks and self-diagnosis trends.

The quality of care often depends not on rules or oversight, but on the ethics and transparency of individual practitioners.

Some therapists maintain rigorous standards regardless of accreditation; others operate with minimal training, no supervision, and no route for accountability if something goes wrong.

The public, meanwhile, is largely unaware of the difference.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK