NHS disruption expected as resident doctors vote for strike action
Downing Street said pay negotiations will not be reopened because the Government 'can't be more generous' than it has been already this year.
The ballot gives resident doctors a mandate for strike action until January 2026.
Some 90% of voting resident doctors in England, formerly known as junior doctors, said they would down their stethoscopes and take to picket lines amid an ongoing row over pay.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said there was a turnout of 55%.
The union has said resident doctors need a pay uplift of 29.2% to reverse 'pay erosion' since 2008/09.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said it was 'disappointing' that medics were threatening strike action, saying that the 'majority of resident doctors did not vote to strike'.
BMA resident doctors committee co-chairs Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt said in a statement: 'All we need is a credible pay offer and nobody need strike.
'Doctors don't take industrial action lightly – but they know it is preferable to watching their profession wither away.
'The next move is the Government's.
'Will it repeat the mistakes of its predecessor? Or will it do the right thing and negotiate a path to full pay restoration and the restoration of doctors' confidence in our profession's future?'
Mr Streeting said: 'While the majority of resident doctors did not vote to strike, it is disappointing that the BMA are threatening strike action that would harm patients and set back all the progress we're making with the NHS.
'Thanks to this Government, resident doctors have received a 28.9% pay rise compared to three years ago, and the highest pay award of the entire public sector this year.
'I met with the BMA today, and while we can't go further on pay than we already have this year, I offered to work with them to resolve issues they face around working conditions. These are not grounds for strike action. My offer to meet their entire committee remains open.'
A Number 10 spokesman said: 'We aren't going to reopen negotiations on pay.
'Resident doctors have received the highest pay award across the public sector for two years in a row, and we've been clear that we can't be more generous than we already have this year.'
A fresh bout of walkouts could cause severe upheaval across the health service.
Previous strikes by resident doctors and other staff groups saw some 1.5 million appointments, procedures and operations postponed as a result.
The news will come as a blow to the Government after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's 'plan for change' pledged that by July 2029, 92% of patients will be seen within 18 weeks for routine hospital treatment such as hip and knee replacements.
The waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England is currently at its lowest level for two years, according to the latest figures, with an estimated 7.39 million treatments waiting to be carried out at the end of April.
Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, which is part of the NHS Confederation, said: 'Further strikes are the last thing health leaders wanted and could result in tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of operations and procedures being delayed or cancelled, leaving patients in pain or discomfort.'
Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: 'A return to industrial action would be a huge setback – bad for patients, for staff and for the NHS.'
In September, BMA members voted to accept a Government pay deal worth 22.3% on average over two years.
And the 2025/26 pay deal saw resident doctors given a 4% uplift plus £750 'on a consolidated basis' – working out as an average pay rise of 5.4%.
The BMA call for a 29.2% uplift is based on Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation, the measure of average changes in the price of goods and services used by most households.
Edward Argar, shadow health secretary, said: 'We warned Labour that caving in to union demands for above-inflation pay rises without conditions would set a dangerous precedent and that the unions would simply come back for more.
'That warning has sadly become true with today's strike vote.
'We are now staring down the barrel of a summer of strikes.'
There are around 77,000 resident doctors in England who work in various settings from GP surgeries to hospitals.
Resident doctor is a catch-all term for all doctors in training, ranging from graduates to medics with a decade of experience.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Rhyl Journal
18 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
Graduate overcomes life-changing injuries to fulfil dream of becoming a doctor
Paul Edwards was 17 and studying for his A-levels when he was knocked off his motorbike, suffering multiple fractures. He had to put his studies on hold and delayed his university ambitions for a decade while he recovered. Fast-forward 16 years and, despite living with debilitating pain, Mr Edwards, now aged 32, has graduated in front of his proud parents Charlie and Denise, girlfriend Aesha, close friends and tutors. It was not just his injuries he needed to overcome, as Mr Edwards grew up in Lawrence Weston where only around 15% of students at his secondary achieved five GCSEs. Encouraged by his parents and supportive teachers, he set his sights on studying medicine at the University of Bristol. Prior to his accident he was accepted on to the now obsolete Government-run gifted and talented programme, which sought to help talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds. But in October 2009 a car overran a junction and Mr Edwards collided with the car at 30mph. He suffered catastrophic injuries, including two fractured thighs, multiple fractures to his neck and back, a lacerated liver and head trauma. Mr Edwards spent years in recovery, undergoing multiple surgeries and battling constant pain. In 2014, he had what he calls his 'sink or swim' moment, and with the help of his GP weaned himself off opioid medication. 'I remember my GP saying: 'You can either stay on these drugs and be stuck here, or come off them and find out what life might still offer you',' he said. He enrolled in an access to higher education course and completed the equivalent of three A-levels in nine months. In 2017, Mr Edwards was offered a place to study neuroscience at Bristol, but switched to medicine during the Covid-19 pandemic. 'My sister is a paramedic, and my GP and consultants were so amazingly supportive during my recovery from my accident. I realised I wanted to help. I wanted to give back,' he said. He studied while managing with 'endless and debilitating' pain as a consequence of his injuries. 'I use over-the counter painkillers to treat the pain and I do lots of activity including endurance running and triathlons,' he said. 'I know I'll be in pain anyway, but I would rather be active and in pain, than sedentary and still in pain.' He has recently completed his elective period of study in anaesthetics and will soon begin his foundation doctor training at an NHS hospital on the Isle of Wight. 'I owe the university a lot regarding my success,' Mr Edwards said. 'I have been incredibly well supported, and I really appreciate everything the staff have done for me. 'They really help you achieve the absolute best you can be. I count myself lucky to have met so many wonderful people along the way, who are now absolute friends for life. 'Who knows, maybe the accident was part of a bigger plan – directing me to a path of becoming a doctor> 'I want to let people know that anything is possible if you are determined enough. It's never too late, and Bristol is a great place to be.'
Glasgow Times
18 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Graduate overcomes life-changing injuries to fulfil dream of becoming a doctor
Paul Edwards was 17 and studying for his A-levels when he was knocked off his motorbike, suffering multiple fractures. He had to put his studies on hold and delayed his university ambitions for a decade while he recovered. Paul Edwards with his parents Charlie and Denise after graduating from the University of Bristol (Nim Jethwa/University of Bristol/PA) Fast-forward 16 years and, despite living with debilitating pain, Mr Edwards, now aged 32, has graduated in front of his proud parents Charlie and Denise, girlfriend Aesha, close friends and tutors. It was not just his injuries he needed to overcome, as Mr Edwards grew up in Lawrence Weston where only around 15% of students at his secondary achieved five GCSEs. Encouraged by his parents and supportive teachers, he set his sights on studying medicine at the University of Bristol. Prior to his accident he was accepted on to the now obsolete Government-run gifted and talented programme, which sought to help talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds. But in October 2009 a car overran a junction and Mr Edwards collided with the car at 30mph. He suffered catastrophic injuries, including two fractured thighs, multiple fractures to his neck and back, a lacerated liver and head trauma. Paul Edwards (far left) completing the 2025 Bristol 10k with his father, Charlie Edwards, and sister (Paul Edwards/PA) Mr Edwards spent years in recovery, undergoing multiple surgeries and battling constant pain. In 2014, he had what he calls his 'sink or swim' moment, and with the help of his GP weaned himself off opioid medication. 'I remember my GP saying: 'You can either stay on these drugs and be stuck here, or come off them and find out what life might still offer you',' he said. He enrolled in an access to higher education course and completed the equivalent of three A-levels in nine months. In 2017, Mr Edwards was offered a place to study neuroscience at Bristol, but switched to medicine during the Covid-19 pandemic. 'My sister is a paramedic, and my GP and consultants were so amazingly supportive during my recovery from my accident. I realised I wanted to help. I wanted to give back,' he said. He studied while managing with 'endless and debilitating' pain as a consequence of his injuries. 'I use over-the counter painkillers to treat the pain and I do lots of activity including endurance running and triathlons,' he said. 'I know I'll be in pain anyway, but I would rather be active and in pain, than sedentary and still in pain.' Paul Edwards aged 17 in hospital following his accident (Charlie Edwards/PA) He has recently completed his elective period of study in anaesthetics and will soon begin his foundation doctor training at an NHS hospital on the Isle of Wight. 'I owe the university a lot regarding my success,' Mr Edwards said. 'I have been incredibly well supported, and I really appreciate everything the staff have done for me. 'They really help you achieve the absolute best you can be. I count myself lucky to have met so many wonderful people along the way, who are now absolute friends for life. 'Who knows, maybe the accident was part of a bigger plan – directing me to a path of becoming a doctor> 'I want to let people know that anything is possible if you are determined enough. It's never too late, and Bristol is a great place to be.'
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump news at a glance: president complains about Putin's ‘bullshit'
Donald Trump has voiced his irritation with Vladimir Putin, telling a cabinet meeting he was getting increasingly frustrated with the Russian leader. The US president told the televised meeting of top officials: 'We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.' Asked if he wanted to see further sanctions against Russia, Trump replied: 'I'm looking at it.' He refused to give further details but said any action would come as 'a little surprise'. Here's more on that and other key US politics stories of the day: As well as voicing his frustration with Putin, Trump promised to send 10 Patriot missiles to Ukraine, according to an official familiar with the matter. Trump had announced on Monday that US weapons deliveries would resume, just a few days after they were halted by the Pentagon. On Monday, the president said he was 'disappointed' with Russia's president and would send 'more weapons' to Ukraine. 'We're gonna send some more weapons we have to them. They have to be able to defend themselves. They're getting hit very hard now,' Trump said, alongside a US and Israeli delegation. Read the full story The United States only has about 25% of the Patriot missile interceptors it needs for all of the Pentagon's military plans after burning through stockpiles in the Middle East in recent months, an alarming depletion that led to the Trump administration freezing the latest transfer of munitions to Ukraine, according to sources in the government. Read the full story Trump vowed to further escalate his trade wars on Tuesday, threatening US tariffs of up to 200% on foreign drugs and 50% on copper, amid widespread confusion around his shifting plans. Hours after saying his latest deadline for a new wave of steep duties was 'not 100% firm', the US president declared that 'no extensions will be granted' beyond 1 August. 'There has been no change to this date, and there will be no change,' Trump wrote on social media, a day after signing an executive order that changed the date from 9 July. Read the full story The US supreme court has cleared the way for Trump's administration to resume plans for mass firings of federal workers that critics warn could threaten crucial government services. Extending a winning streak for the US president, the justices on Tuesday lifted a lower court order that had frozen sweeping federal layoffs known as 'reductions in force' while litigation in the case proceeds. The decision could result in hundreds of thousands of job losses at the departments of agriculture, commerce, health and human services, state, treasury, veterans affairs and other agencies. Read the full story A new study of defense department spending previewed exclusively to the Guardian shows that most of the Pentagon's discretionary spending from 2020 to 2024 has gone to outside military contractors, providing a $2.4tn boon in public funds to private firms in what was described as a 'continuing and massive transfer of wealth from taxpayers to fund war and weapons manufacturing'. The report, from the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and Costs of War, said that the Trump administration's new Pentagon budget will push annual US military spending past the $1tn mark. Read the full story The deadly Texas floods could signal a new norm in the US, as Trump and his allies dismantle critical federal agencies that help states prepare and respond to extreme weather and other hazards, experts warn. Read the full story An unknown fraudster has used artificial intelligence to impersonate the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, contacting at least five senior officials. According to a state department cable first seen by the Washington Post and confirmed by the Guardian, the impostor sent fake voice messages and texts that mimicked Rubio's voice and writing style to those targets, including three foreign ministers, a US governor and a member of Congress. Read the full story A Houston pediatrician is 'no longer employed' after a posting on social media that the 'Maga' voters in Texas 'get what they voted for' amid deadly flash flooding. A federal judge has ruled against five non-profit organizations that sued the Trump administration over the rescinding of hundreds of millions of dollars meant to prevent and respond to issues such as gun violence, substance abuse and hate crimes. Fifa's relationship with Trump now has a physically tangible marker, with soccer's world governing body announcing it has opened an office in Trump Tower in New York City. Catching up? Here's what happened on 7 July 2025.
