ENGLAND — The prime minister gave the British Medical Association 48 hours to call off a six-day doctor strike after Easter in England or face losing 1,000 extra training places. The walkout will begin at 07:00 BST on Tuesday and last six days.

"Walking away from this deal is the wrong decision. It is a reckless decision. And doing so without even giving resident doctors themselves the chance to vote on it makes it even worse," Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said.

The British Medical Association announced a six-day doctor strike after Easter in England. The upcoming six-day strike will be the joint longest in the dispute, with resident doctors only once before having taken part in a six-day strike.

The government deal included creating 1,000 extra training places this year as part of a package to create at least 4,000 extra specialty posts over the next three years. Under the deal, out-of-pocket expenses such as exam fees would be covered and progression through the five resident doctors pay bands would be sped up.

Doctors were to be given a 3.5% pay rise this year. The independent pay review body recommended a 3.5% pay rise in April covering all doctors. "Removing potential posts at a time when \"corridor care and GP queues\" are already putting the NHS under pressure is clearly bad for patients," said Dr Jack Fletcher, resident doctor committee chair.

Resident doctors make up nearly half of medics working in the National Health Service. Two thirds of resident doctors are members of the British Medical Association.

Applications for the training posts, which start in the summer, will open soon. Last summer there were around 30,000 applicants for about 10,000 specialist training jobs, including some doctors applying from abroad. Expanding training posts has been a key element of the talks.

The British Medical Association said the 3.5% pay rise was not enough given inflation is expected to rise because of the war with Iran and that resident doctors' pay has not kept pace with inflation since 2008. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he could not offer resident doctors more pay after they were given rises totalling nearly 30% in the past three years.