NHS leaders have called on Health Secretary Wes Streeting and the British Medical Association (BMA) to agree to independent mediation to resolve the long-running pay dispute with resident doctors, who are set to begin a five-day strike on Wednesday. The NHS Confederation, representing hospital bosses, warned that the deadlock is making patients “collateral damage” and urged both sides to embrace arbitration to break the impasse.
The strike, the 14th since 2023, will involve thousands of resident doctors in England from 7am on Wednesday until 7am on Monday, 22 December. Hospitals have cancelled tens of thousands of tests and treatments to manage the extra pressure. Last-ditch talks on Tuesday between Streeting and the BMA were described as “constructive” but failed to reach an agreement on pay and jobs.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “Clearly the current standoff between the government and the BMA’s resident doctors committee is detrimental to all parties, but the repercussions will be felt most severely by patients. Some common ground is urgently needed, which independent mediation could support.” He warned that without a resolution, industrial action could become “the defining feature of the NHS in 2026”.
Resident doctors are demanding a 26% pay rise over three years and more training places, beyond the health secretary’s offer to increase places from 1,000 to 4,000. Streeting has called the 26% claim unaffordable. The BMA plans to reballot its 55,000 members, as the current strike mandate expires on 6 January. Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of the resident doctors committee, said strikes could continue into the new year if the government does not provide a clear route to raise pay and create new jobs.
The Department of Health and Social Care did not directly respond to the mediation call but said every effort was made to avert the strike. Sir Jim Mackey, head of NHS England, condemned the strike as “cruel” and “calculated” for coinciding with one of the busiest weeks of the year.
