Resident doctors in England have delivered a renewed mandate for strike action in the fight for pay restoration, following the outcome of a six-week ballot.
They will stage a full walk out from 7am on Friday 25 July until 7am on Wednesday 30 July.
Leaders of the BMA resident doctors committee have advised that doctors have ‘spoken clearly’ after the results of a vote published this week revealed 90 per cent of resident doctors voting in favour of a potential return to industrial action.
The ballot, which ran from 27 May until 7 July, saw a turnout of 55 per cent, almost 30,000 (29,741) votes cast with 26,766 of those participating endorsing the use of strike action as part of efforts to restore pay.
The result means that resident doctors have now secured a fresh mandate for industrial action from now until January 2026.
BMA resident doctors committee co-chairs Melissa Ryan and Ross Nieuwoudt said that, while no doctor took the possibility of striking lightly, a clear majority of members felt that they had no other choice given the ongoing failures to move the needle on pay restoration.
Pay decline
They added that health secretary Wes Streeting had the power to ‘make the right decision’ on pay and urged the Government to return to negotiations as soon as possible.
They said: ‘Doctors have spoken and spoken clearly: they won’t accept that they are worth a fifth less than they were in 2008. Our pay may have declined but our will to fight remains strong.
‘We now find ourselves at a crucial crossroads. Last year when in opposition Mr Streeting said that the solution to strikes was to talk to resident doctors. It was as true then as it is now. He made a point of acting quickly to grasp the issue and negotiate a solution. Only a few weeks ago he again said he wanted to get back round the table with us.
‘Now we will see if he can once again make the right decision. He needs to come forward as soon as possible with a credible path to pay restoration. All we need is a credible pay offer and nobody need strike.
‘Doctors don’t take industrial action lightly – but they know it is preferable to watching their profession wither away. The next move is the Government’s. Will it repeat the mistakes of its predecessor? Or will it do the right thing and negotiate a path to full pay restoration and the restoration of doctors’ confidence in our profession’s future?’
Industrial action
Between 2023 and 2024, resident doctors in England participated in an unprecedented 11 rounds of strike action, after negotiations with the previous Conservative-Government over restoring pay repeatedly stalled.
Following last year's general election, RDC reached an agreement on pay with the newly elected Labour government, with resident doctors later voting to endorse this deal in September 2024.
While this agreement marked the end of formal dispute process, resident doctors leaders were clear that it was merely a step forward rather than the end of the journey to full pay restoration.
Resident doctors in England re-entered formal dispute with the Government on 9 April this year, following the latter’s failure to meet an agreement to publish the recommendations of the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration ahead of 6 April.
Doctors’ dissatisfaction was intensified following the publication of the DDRB on 22 May, with the report recommending a sub-inflationary pay uplift of just 4 per cent.
* This story was updated on 9 July