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| Volume 55 Number 27, November 8, 2025 | ARCHIVE | HOME | JBCENTRE | SUBSCRIBE |
Doctors srike in August 2023 - Photo:
PersonnelToday
Resident doctors in England are poised to strike starting November 14 due to ongoing disputes over job security and the restoration of pay that have yet to be resolved. This decision comes after the British Medical Association (BMA) urged Health Secretary Wes Streeting to resume negotiations to avert the strike [1].
The BMA Resident Doctors Committee England (RDC) says that the dispute centres on two connected issues. The first is pay erosion: the real-terms value of resident doctors' pay has fallen significantly, and the government has not committed to a credible path to restore it. Secondly, specialist training places and substantive posts remain insufficient, leading to unacceptable career uncertainty for resident doctors.
The BMA reports an August survey revealed that some 34% of resident doctors struggled to secure stable employment. The committee is advocating for a multi-year pay deal or targeted improvements for the current year to relieve the financial pressures that many doctors are facing.
Since 2008, there has been a significant 21% decline in real-term salaries for resident doctors.
Further, despite the government's recent announcement of an additional 1,000 specialty training positions, many in the medical community view these efforts as inadequate and slow in addressing the pressing needs within the healthcare system.
The BMA points out that despite over 90% of members voting in favour of action regarding both pay and training disputes, the government has shown unwillingness to address these critical issues. Following a meeting on October 13, the Health Secretary's lack of a comprehensive plan to tackle these challenges has prompted the decision for a full walk-out.
Resident doctors are instructed not to start shifts from 7 a.m. on November 14. Emergency cover will be maintained during the strike, although there will be a complete withdrawal of substantive duties.
Speaking out to make the NHS fit for doctors and patients, Resident Doctor Committee chair Dr Jack Fletcher stressed that he hoped that the government would recognise doctors' concerns by providing a mandate for a multi-year pay deal, or by agreeing to targeted in-year improvements to resident doctors' pay [2]. The BMA through its negotiations said that the government had pledged to create an additional 1,000 speciality training places, but doctors had warned that this increase is insufficient. Dr Fletcher said: "Sadly, the Government has not been willing to offer the kind of radical plan needed that would keep doctors in work and reduce waiting lists. Strike dates are the only possible outcome."
The RDC Chair emphasised that it remains possible to resolve the situation through renewed negotiations. The BMA has urged the government to prevent the strike by proposing a viable plan for pay restoration and implementing immediate reforms to expand training programmes and alleviate bottlenecks. Until then, the RDC warns a full walk-out is unavoidable. The RDC accused the government of undermining the NHS, suggesting that a reasonable proposal from Health Secretary Streeting was necessary to avert the impending strike.
Dr Fletcher said: "This is not where we wanted to be. We have spent the last week in talks with government, pressing the health secretary to end the scandal of doctors going unemployed ... a situation which cannot go on.
"We talked with the government in good faith - keen for the health secretary to see that a deal that included options to gradually reverse the cuts to pay over several years, giving newly trained doctors a pay increase of just a pound an hour for the next four years.
"We hoped the government would see that our asks are not just reasonable but are in the best interests of the public and our patients and would also help stop our doctors leaving the NHS.
"Better employment prospects and restoring pay - are a credible way forward that would work for doctors, work for government and work for our patients. Sadly, while we want to get such a deal done, the government seemingly, does not, leaving us with little option but to call for strike action."
He added: "That is disappointing, but it is not irredeemable. Wes Streeting inherited an NHS falling apart through decades of under-investment, but restoring our pay over several years, along with concrete plans to create more jobs and training place would go a long way towards the start of a new and better health service.
"We need the health secretary to step up, come forward with a proper offer on jobs, on pay. We need him to embrace change and make an NHS fit for doctors and fit for patients."
The strike date serves as a stark reminder of the untenable nature of the current situation and a call for essential change to sustain the medical workforce in England. The BMA remains willing to negotiate while prioritizing the recovery of the value of doctors' pay and the future of medical training.
On November 5, the BMA rejected a fresh offer from Wes Streeting, an offer which took no cognisance of the thrust of the resident doctors' demands. The Health Secretary was provocative in saying that the strike was "unnecessary", and missed the doctors' point about how damaging the government's wrong direction is to the NHS by saying that the strike would "harm the NHS's recovery and mean that at least some part of this offer becomes unaffordable".
In response to this provocation, RDC Chair Dr Jack Fletcher said that, even with the expansion of training places offered by Streeting, resident doctors would still be left without a job at a crucial point of their training. Dr Fletcher said: "We have also been clear with the 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."
Resident doctors in Scotland are also preparing to strike in response to the Scottish government's failure to uphold a pay agreement, with formal disputes initiated by BMA Scotland. Furthermore, the TUC Congress unanimously supported motions for a weekend demonstration against Labour austerity, indicating escalating trade union actions related to ongoing healthcare sector challenges.
The stand taken by the resident doctors calls for immediate and meaningful dialogue aimed at safeguarding to the future of the NHS by taking steps that align with the needs of its workforce. A failure to engage constructively will lead to further disruptions, risking both the morale of healthcare professionals and the well-being of patients across the country. The doctors' voice must be heard.
Notes
1. Source: BMA.
Main reference: "Resident doctors set strike date", Tim Tonkin,
October 23, 2025
https://www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opinion/resident-doctors-set-strike-date
2. Resident doctors announce five-day strike as government talks collapse,
Open Access Government, October 27, 2025
https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/resident-doctors-announce-five-day-strike-as-government-talks-collapse/200424/