A BMA ballot to decide whether to take industrial action in pursuit of pay restoration is open.
If returned with a ‘yes’ vote, a mandate for industrial action would last from July 2025 to January 2026.
The vote comes after health secretary Wes Streeting failed to make a commitment on restoring pay levels during a meeting with BMA resident doctors committee co-chairs Melissa Ryan and Ross Nieuwoudt.
RDC announced on 9 April it was re-entering its dispute on pay with the Government, following the delays in the publication of The Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration recommendations.
In reaction to the ballot opening, health secretary Wes Streeting posted a four-minute video and sent, via NHS England, a letter to resident doctors asking them to ‘vote no’.
His letter states how much remuneration resident doctors have already received. However, the average pay increase of 28.9 per cent, compared with three years ago, does not factor in inflation, according to the BMA.
Resident doctors do not have a commitment from Mr Streeting to negotiate a road to full pay restoration and RDC has said a strike mandate is needed for the Government to respect them.
Pay erosion
Drs Nieuwoudt and Ryan said: ‘All we are asking for is to redress our historic pay erosion. If Mr Streeting was genuinely willing to meet us on those grounds, he would have made that clear. Instead, he waits until the day our ballot opens to wage a campaign against us.
‘Let’s show him that doctors won’t fall for it. When we stand together and fight for what’s right, we will win. Vote yes for strike action. Vote yes to restore our pay.’
During the last round of industrial action, Daniel Zahedi, a resident doctor working at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, told BMA membership magazine The Doctor: ‘They continue to want us to stay after work because a patient needs us and there’s no cover coming. We’re doing the work of almost two doctors.
'I have a friend, [a] foundation year 1, who has £3,000 debt on one credit card, £1,000 on another, owes her parents £2,000 and a friend £1,000. On top of that they have £100,000 of student debt.
‘Factor that all in, plus tax, plus National Insurance, plus pension, and she has very little take home pay when she’s earning just £14 per hour.’
The ballot opened on 27 May and will close on 7 July.
Remember, more than half of resident doctors need to vote to meet the legal threshold. Look out for the bright orange envelope in the post. Vote and send the paper back as soon as you can in the prepaid envelope.