Resident doctors in England will stage a four-day strike from 15 to 19 June, the 16th walkout in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. The British Medical Association (BMA) announced the action, warning that further stoppages could follow in July unless progress is made on their demands.
The BMA is seeking a pay rise to compensate for what it says is a 26% real-terms loss in salaries since 2008-09. The union also calls for a significant expansion of training places for resident doctors. The strike is expected to disrupt NHS services, forcing hospitals to reschedule thousands of diagnostic tests, outpatient appointments, and operations, at an estimated cost of £50m per day.
Health Secretary James Murray, who succeeded Wes Streeting on 14 May, dismissed the pay claim as “unrealistic, unaffordable, and unsustainable”. He noted that resident doctors have received a 33.4% pay rise over the last four years, the highest in the public sector, and expressed disappointment at the BMA's refusal to consider further talks.
Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee, blamed Murray’s alleged intransigence for the strike. “We had hoped a change in leadership would bring a change in approach, but we have encountered the same unwillingness to move,” he said. The NHS Alliance criticised the strike as “rash and wholly irresponsible”, warning it would leave patients paying the price.
Separately, the BMA’s GPs committee plans to ballot family doctors on whether to offer more private care, potentially introducing means-tested, subscription-based services similar to dental surgeries. This follows months of wrangling over GP contracts and workloads.
