Junior doctors in England have begun a six-day strike, the 15th walkout by resident doctors since 2023 and the joint-longest. The industrial action, which started at 7am on Tuesday, marks the 60th day of strikes by doctors since 2023. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has described the strikes as “unreasonable” and stated that the £3 billion cost of covering the walkouts could have built “a few” hospitals.
Speaking to LBC, Mr Streeting said: “We can do a few hospitals for that. We could have run far more appointments and procedures with that money to cut waiting lists faster.” NHS estimates have previously put the cost of the strikes at around £50 million per day for staff cover and rescheduled operations.
The British Medical Association (BMA) is calling for pay restoration to 2008 levels, arguing that doctors’ real-terms pay has fallen by a fifth according to the retail price index (RPI). The BMA’s Resident Doctors Committee (RDC) rejected a pay offer that included a 3.5% rise for 2026/27, with Mr Streeting claiming the overall package would give resident doctors an average increase of 4.9%.
Dr Callum Parr, deputy chair of the RDC, said outside St Thomas’ Hospital in London: “To fully restore our pay all in one go… it would cost about £2 billion. So for the price of £3 billion of experiencing these strikes the government could have just settled all in one go for £2 billion.” The BMA said the latest walkout was triggered by “last minute changes” to a deal, with some aspects of the pay increase phased over three years.
RDC chair Dr Jack Fletcher told Times Radio: “This action was avoidable. This round of action was called because at the last minute, the Health Secretary chose to reduce the value of the investment on the table and then stretch it over a number of years.” He added: “There are doctors here this morning who have left the NHS because they don’t feel valued.”
Dr Harry Waterman, a second-year specialty trainee in Newcastle, defended the strike as a battle for future generations, saying: “We don’t want to strike. A first year qualified doctor will earn around £38,000 a year with additional pay for extra hours.” The BMA stresses that with RPI inflation at 3.6%, the headline pay offer of 3.5% is still a real-terms pay cut.
