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Resident doctors in England will go on strike from 17 to 22 December, the British Medical Association (BMA) has announced.
The five-day strike in the run-up to Christmas comes as doctors accuse the government of failing to make “sufficient progress towards a viable deal on jobs and pay”.
In an email to doctors seen by The Independent, the BMA said it “gave [health secretary] Wes Streeting a window of opportunity to get back round the table” in a letter from 19 November.
“Today is 1 December. The Secretary of State has not written to us and instead oversaw thousands of resident doctors turned away from IMT posts, all the while trying to push a real terms pay cut onto us in 2026,” the email read.
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Resident doctors make up around half the medical workforce in the NHS (James Manning/PA) (PA Wire)
It is the second round of strike action taken by resident doctors since the election of a leadership in the resident doctors committee (RDC) in September, with North East-based Dr Jack Fletcher at helm.
Following talks in October and November with Mr Streeting, a five-day strike was held from 14 to 19 November.
The BMA accused the government in its email on Monday of “presiding over yet another catastrophic recruitment round” and said that doctors are the “collateral damage, despite our warnings and willingness to fix this disaster by getting to a deal”.
The Independent has contacted the Department of Health and Social Care for comment.
Dr Fletcher said the union had “no choice but to announce more strike dates” after the government failed to propose a “credible plan to fix the jobs crisis for resident doctors at the same time as pushing a real terms pay cut for them”.
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Health Secretary Wes Streeting speaks to NHS staff during a visit to NHS England’s headquarters at Wellington House in London on 14 November, as NHS resident doctors in England begin a five-day strike (PA)
He said the strikes “do not need to go ahead” if pay is gradually raised in the following years and some “common-sense fixes” are carried out by the government to “ensure both the long-term strength of our healthcare workforce”.
Second-year doctors applying for training posts are being asked to provide evidence of experience “well beyond what would have previously been asked of them”, he said.
Last month’s industrial action – which followed another round from July 25 to 30 – was the 13th strike since March 2023. The summer walkout was estimated to have cost the health service £300 million.
Last week, the BMA announced it would be balloting its resident doctor members on extending its mandate for strike action, which runs out in January.
If the vote is successful, the mandate would extend to August 2026. The ballot will run from December 8 until February 2.
