Resident Doctors to Strike for Five Days as Waiting Lists Fall
Tens of thousands of resident doctors in England will stage a five-day strike from 25 July after rejecting the government’s pay offer, the British Medical Association has confirmed. The walkout, over a demand to restore pay eroded since 2008, threatens widespread cancellations of operations and appointments. The Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, urged the union to call it off, pointing to NHS waiting lists that have fallen to their lowest level since early 2023.
The BMA’s resident-doctors committee said that “without a credible offer to keep us on the path to restore our pay, we have no choice but to call strikes”, after talks with Mr Streeting moved only on non-pay terms. The government says doctors have received pay rises averaging nearly 29 per cent over two years, the highest in the public sector. The waiting list fell for a second straight month to around 7.4 million, which Mr Streeting called a fragile recovery “only just beginning”. Watch whether last-minute talks avert the walkout.