Today the British Medical Association (BMA) have announced resident doctors in England have voted in favour of strikes that could last until January 2026.
Formerly known as junior doctors, the medical experts have made the decision as a result of ongoing pay disputes. The BMA have said wages for resident doctors are still around 20% lower in real terms than in 2008.
What’s more, the trade union have also revealed 90% of resident doctors voted in favour of strike action in the latest ballot, on a turnout of 55%.
The news comes after Labour’s health secretary Wes Streeting ended the first lot of strikes last July by offering resident doctors a 22% pay rise for 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Between March 2023 and July 2024 junior doctors engaged in industrial action 11 times for a total of 44 days. During this period more than 1.2 million NHS appointments and treatments had to be cancelled. It is believed that the announcement to re-engage in industrial action will have similar impacts.
‘The last thing health leaders want is more industrial action, which will likely lead to tens, in not hundreds, of thousands of appointments and operations being cancelled, leaving patients in pain and frustration,’ Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said. ‘While we fully understand the genuine grievances resident doctors have over their pay, conditions and training, going on strike will have a huge impact on the NHS and patients.’
To give context, the latest government statistics show that, for the first time in two years, NHS waiting lists are on a downward trajectory. In September 2023 wait lists reached a peak high of 7.7 million, but the number reduced to 7.4 million in March 2025.
Despite the positive progress, co-chairs of the BMA resident doctors committee, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, explained they will stop at nothing to ensure staff receive the pay they deserve.
‘Doctors have spoken clearly: they won’t accept that they are worth a fifth less than they were in 2008,’ they said in a statement. ‘Our pay may have declined but our will to fight remains strong.’
As it stands Wes Streeting is due to meet with both Ryan and Nieuwoudt today to try and avert strike action. However Streeting has ruled out making any improvement to this year’s 5.4% pay increase, meaning it is more likely the strikes will go ahead.
Photo by Himanshu Pandey via UnSplash
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