Resident Doctors to strike again
They'll down tools for a 16th time in their ongoing row over pay
Resident doctors will go on strike for four days in June, the British Medical Association (BMA) has said.
The announcement follows the union’s first talks with new Health Secretary James Murray on Wednesday.
Walkouts will begin at 7am on Monday June 15, ending at 6.59am on Friday June 19.
The BMA said further strikes will be announced for July if no progress is made.
Health leaders have warned that the disruption may lead to thousands of people having appointments and operations either cancelled or rescheduled.
Mr Murray, who was appointed after the resignation of Wes Streeting earlier this month, said he had hoped to start a “productive relationship” with the BMA, but the union’s demands for further pay increases were “unrealistic, unaffordable, and unsustainable”.
“I’m disappointed that the BMA have refused to consider further discussions about how to strengthen the deal on the table and have instead rushed once again to unnecessary and unreasonable strike action,” he said.
“I was clear with the BMA that after a 33.4% pay rise for resident doctors over the last four years – the highest anywhere across the public sector – the BMA’s demands for further substantial pay increases this year are unrealistic, unaffordable, and unsustainable.
“These are simply not grounds for yet more strike action, which patients do not support, puts further pressure on other staff and costs the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds.”
Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of the BMA’s resident doctors’ committee, said: “We had hoped that a change in leadership at the Department of Health and Social Care would lead to a change in approach.
“Sadly, we have run up against the same unwillingness to move we encountered under Mr Streeting.
“We were prepared to give Mr Murray time to settle into his role before completing the work his predecessor left unfinished – to both make a fair and meaningful pay offer and make concrete commitments to end the jobs bottleneck throttling the careers of our colleagues.
“He had a genuine opportunity to break this logjam with fresh energy and ambition.
“He has not taken it. Instead, we are hearing the same tired line: vagueness on new jobs and no further money on the table.
“We cannot be asked to negotiate in good faith for weeks, only to be told there is nothing left to negotiate about on pay and no further details at this stage on jobs.”
Dr Fletcher said the BMA’s demands are “straightforward” and members want “a credible, meaningful offer comprising concrete new jobs and real progress towards pay restoration”.
Speaking to broadcasters on Wednesday, he added that the BMA is “ready and willing” to negotiate but had “no choice” but to call further strikes.
Dr Fletcher also said the union has been talking to Government for the last six weeks, “regardless” of who was the health secretary.
“The key thing from our point of view is that we are ready and willing to negotiate, we’ve been trying to do so for the last six weeks to avoid any further industrial action, but sadly the Government have not been forthcoming with a different offer,” Dr Fletcher said.
“There has been no additional investment, and therefore we feel like we have no choice.”
He added that he is “more than happy” to get around the table and put an end to strikes, not only in June but potentially over the next few years.
Mr Murray urged the BMA to “step back from more damaging strikes and work in partnership with the Government for the benefit of their members and the NHS”.
The last round of action by resident doctors, which lasted for six days over the Easter holiday, was the 15th strike since 2023.
The cumulative cost of the walkouts is estimated to have topped £3 billion.
Matthew Hopkins, interim acute and ambulance network director at The NHS Alliance, said the decision to strike is “rash and wholly irresponsible and will leave patients paying the price”.
“This latest round of industrial action, the 16th stoppage in the last three years, puts at risk the hard-worn progress the health service has made in recent months in bringing down waiting lists and driving up productivity.
“Health leaders and their teams will be deeply concerned about the threat of this fresh walkout by resident doctors, given the additional pressure it would place on already stretched clinical and administrative colleagues.
“As always, every effort will be made to minimise disruption, but thousands of people still face having appointments and operations rescheduled.”
Mr Streeting had initially struck a deal to end strikes by resident doctors during the first months of the Labour Government in 2024, although industrial action by medics resumed in 2025.
Before the April strike, Mr Streeting had offered a 4.9% increase in average basic pay from 2026 to 2027, which he claimed would have left resident doctors 35.2% better off than four years ago.
His proposal had also included an offer of 1,000 extra training places, although that was taken off the table because of increasing strike costs to the NHS.
Resident doctor members of the BMA have a mandate for industrial action until August.
The union is also balloting consultants and specialist, associate specialist and specialty (SAS) doctors, in a vote to close on July 6.
Published: by Radio NewsHub