Resident doctors in the NHS have begun a five-day strike, reigniting a pay dispute that threatens to undermine Labour's central health pledge. The government has offered a 5.4% pay increase this year, following a 22% rise over the previous two years, totalling a 28.9% uplift over three years. However, doctors argue that nearly two decades of pay restraint have eroded their salaries in real terms, and they are striking for a 29% pay rise over several years.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting denounced the strike as “completely unreasonable”, stating that “no trade union in British history has seen its members receive a 28.9% pay rise only to immediately respond with strikes”. He argued that the action “enormously undermines the entire trade union movement” and urged doctors not to join the industrial action.
The British Medical Association (BMA) claims that resident doctors have seen the real value of their pay fall by nearly 21% over the past 17 years, equivalent to working one day in five for free. The BMA's resident doctors committee is seeking a further 29% pay rise over several years. Supporters argue that the strike highlights a system on the brink, with doctors overworked, underpaid, and unable to deliver the care patients need.
Under the previous Conservative government, resident doctors went on strike 11 times, totalling 44 days, leading to about 1.5 million cancelled appointments and costing the NHS an estimated £1.5 billion. Labour's Streeting had initially resolved the dispute with a 22% pay rise over two years, but the current impasse has left the two sides deeply entrenched.
