Resident Doctor Strike To Go Ahead As BMA Reject Offer
Talks between the government and resident doctors have once again collapsed, with the British Medical Association (BMA) rejecting Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s latest offer aimed at ending the long-running pay and training dispute in England.
The proposal, sent to the union on Wednesday, included funding for costly exam and membership fees, plus a plan to double the number of specialist training places to 2,000 — half of which would be made available next year. Streeting described the deal as one that would “put more money in your pockets” and “deliver more training places for resident doctors.”
But the BMA’s resident doctors committee dismissed the offer, saying it “does not go far enough.” Committee chair Dr Jack Fletcher argued the government’s proposal would still leave thousands of doctors without jobs and fail to address the “gravity of the situation.”
“Even with this offer, thousands of doctors would still be unable to find a job,” Fletcher said. “Thirty thousand doctors applied for 10,000 places this year — one thousand more is not going to fix this crisis, nor come anywhere near doing so.”
He also repeated calls for a multi-year pay deal that would “restore pay over time,” saying Streeting’s refusal to move on pay meant strikes were inevitable.
The five-day strike is scheduled to start at 7am on 14th November — the 13th walkout since March 2023 — and is expected to cause major disruption across hospitals. Resident doctors, who make up almost half of the NHS medical workforce, will walk out from both emergency and routine care, with senior doctors stepping in to provide cover.
Streeting, meanwhile, has insisted he cannot offer more money because of “the enormous financial pressures facing the country”, and said “no amount of strike action will change this.”
He noted that resident doctors have already received nearly 29% pay rises since 2023, the largest increase in the public sector.
In his letter to the BMA, he said, “The choice is clear. You can continue to pursue unnecessary strike action, which will cause disruption to patients, harm the NHS’s recovery and mean that at least some parts of this offer become unaffordable. Or you can put an end to this damaging period of industrial action and work in partnership with the government.”
The health secretary has also argued that ongoing strikes drain NHS resources, costing around £240 million each time.
However, the BMA maintains that, despite recent pay rises, resident doctors are still earning around 20% less in real terms than they did in 2008. Fletcher accused Streeting of proposing “another real-terms pay cut,” saying strikes could still be avoided if the government showed “willingness to offer a pay deal and a genuine solution on jobs.”
With both sides dug in, it seems next week’s strike — and the chaos it could bring to hospitals — is all but certain.
