Resident doctors in England will go ahead with a five-day strike this week, after rejecting a fresh government offer aimed at averting industrial action.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said 83 per cent of members who took part in an online poll voted to continue with the strike, with a 65 per cent turnout. The walkout is scheduled to begin at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday.
The snap poll was agreed last week after the government presented a revised proposal, which included more specialty training posts and support for out-of-pocket costs such as exam fees. However, the offer did not include further pay increases, a key demand of the doctors.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has maintained that pay will not be renegotiated, noting that resident doctors’ salaries have risen by nearly 30 per cent over the past three years. The BMA argues that, when adjusted for inflation, doctors’ pay remains around 20 per cent lower than in 2008.
Streeting described the doctors’ pay demands as “fantasy” and condemned the timing of the strike, warning it was “irresponsible and dangerous” given the intense pressure on hospitals from a surge in flu cases.
“The BMA has chosen Christmas strikes to inflict damage on the NHS at the moment of maximum danger,” he said, urging doctors to reconsider walking out.
Rising Flu Pressures
Hospital data shows flu admissions have jumped by more than 50 per cent in a single week, exceeding 2,600 patients in early December. Health officials say the season began early and is proving particularly severe, driven by the H3N2 strain, which is associated with more serious illness and reduced population immunity.
This will be the 14th strike since the dispute began in March 2023. Resident doctors—who make up nearly half of the medical workforce—will withdraw services from both emergency and non-urgent care, with senior doctors drafted in to provide cover.
Union and NHS Reactions
BMA resident doctor leader Dr Jack Fletcher said the vote sent a clear message to the government.
“Tens of thousands of frontline doctors have come together to say ‘no’ to what is clearly too little, too late,” he said, insisting that any resolution must address pay. He added that the union remains committed to patient safety and will work closely with NHS England during the strike.
Meanwhile, Rory Deighton of the NHS Confederation described the decision as “bitterly disappointing,” warning that the strikes come at the worst possible time for hospitals already under strain from rising flu cases.
Had doctors voted not to proceed with this week’s strike, the BMA would have triggered a separate ballot on the government’s offer. That pathway has now been closed, prolonging one of the NHS’s longest-running industrial disputes.
