The British Medical Association (BMA) announced resident doctors strikes from July 25 to July 30.
Here, we tell you everything you need to know about resident doctor strikes, including what patients need to know about their care in the event of future strikes.
Will there be more resident doctor strikes?
There are no further strikes currently planned by the BMA.
The Secretary of State and the BMA have agreed to continue engagement through the summer with the aim of preventing further disruption to the NHS and patients.
The BMA has a 6-month mandate – this means that it has a legal right to announce more strikes until 6 January 2026, but the Secretary of State has been clear that he wants to work with the BMA to improve the working lives of resident doctors and put an end to strikes.
What happens next and what are you doing to stop strikes?
With waiting lists the lowest they have been in two years, satisfaction with GPs on the up and 4.6 million appointments delivered in our first year, we are turning the NHS around.
There is finally light at the end of the tunnel for the NHS, but the BMA would be putting that progress at risk with further strike action.
The government will continue to engage with the BMA through the summer with the aim of preventing further disruption to the NHS and patients.
We have been clear that, following a 28.9% pay rise across three years for resident doctors, we cannot go further on pay this year.
However, there is shared ambition to explore and address some of the unique additional costs that resident doctors experience through their training and work, alongside creating extra roles to deal with the bottlenecks that hold back doctors’ career progression.
How much do resident doctors earn?
The average annual earnings per first year resident doctor last year was £43,275 – that is significantly more, in a resident doctor’s first year, than the average full-time worker in this country earns.
Resident doctors in their second year earned an average of £52,300 last year and at the top end of the scale, resident doctors in specialty training earned an average almost £75,000.
Pay is set to increase further with this year’s 5.4% pay award.
What pay rises have they had in recent years?
Resident doctors pay has increased by 28.9% across the last three years, thanks to this government.
For the second consecutive year, resident doctors received the highest pay increase across the public sector – 5.4% this year. This means they’ve had two years in a row of above inflation pay increases.
Is it true that most resident doctors didn’t vote to strike?
Yes.
Because of the turnout (55.3%), under half of resident doctors in the BMA have actually voted in favour of strike action (49.78%).
Of the 77,000 resident doctors working in our NHS hospital and community health services, only around a third actually voted for strike action.
How are you keeping patients safe during strikes?
Our priority is to keep patients safe, and we will do everything we can to mitigate the impact of the strikes on patients and the disruption that will follow.
NHS leaders have been clear that previous rounds of strike action caused much wider levels of harm than previously realised and there is no reason why planned care for cancer for example should be treated as less important than other NHS services. We know that cancelling non-urgent work comes at a risk to patients too and must not ignore this.
Due to the dedication of NHS staff and a different operational approach from previous strikes, the NHS significantly reduced disruption to patients during strikes in July, with early indications showing that 10,000 extra patients receiving care compared to previous strike action. A majority of resident doctors didn’t vote for strike action and data shows that less than a third of residents took part.
Will my appointment be cancelled during strikes?
Patients with appointments booked on strike days will be contacted if their appointment needs to be rescheduled due to industrial action.
If they have not been contacted, they should attend their appointment as planned.
Any appointments that need to be rescheduled will be done so as a priority.
What if I need urgent medical attention?
It’s important that you do not put off seeking urgent care, and you should turn up for planned appointments unless you have been told otherwise.
Anyone who needs urgent care should use NHS 111 online or use the NHS App to be assessed and directed to the right care for them.
As usual, patients should only use 999 if it is a serious or life-threatening emergency.
For more information on when to call 999 and when to go to A&E, you can visit the NHS UK website.
Should I be worried about falling ill during strikes?
The NHS has tried and tested ways to keep patients safe during strikes.
This includes derogations which are exemptions or special arrangements that allow certain essential services to continue operating during industrial action, even when healthcare workers are on strike.
When NHS staff take strike action, they work with hospital management to identify critical services that must be maintained to ensure patient safety and prevent serious harm.
This ensures that whilst industrial action can proceed to highlight disputes over pay, working conditions, or other issues, patient safety remains the primary concern.
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