Why the doctors’ strike is taking place as NHS hit by rising flu cases
The British Medical Association (BMA) has confirmed junior doctors will strike in the run-up to Christmas as its members reject the government’s latest offer to end a long-running dispute over work and pay.
During the five-day strike, staff will be off work from 7 a.m. on December 17 to 7 a.m. on December 22. This marks the 14th strike by junior doctors, previously called junior doctors, since March 2023, following a similar five-day strike last month.
The action comes as the UK grapples with a record-breaking flu pandemic; The average number of patients with the virus in a hospital bed last week was 2,660 per day, an increase of 55 percent compared to last week.
Health minister Wes Streeting said the BMA had chosen to strike at the “worst possible time” to “cause maximum impact and damage to the NHS”, given the rising number of cases.
“I think it’s irresponsible and I think it’s dangerous,” he said Sky NewsHe adds: “Even now, if the BMA wants to postpone until January, the government will facilitate this.”
But the BMA called on Streeting to “stop scaring”, accusing him of “exploiting patients and the public’s fears”, adding that the focus should be on “ending strikes altogether and working with junior doctors to do this”.
Everything you need to know about the dispute:
Why are junior doctors on strike?
Junior doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, are doctors who are qualified in their early years of training. One fifth have completed the first two foundation years, while the remainder are in basic or specialist registrar training.
The agreed salary for basic trainees is between £38,831 and £44,439, with specialist training salaries rising to £73,992. This includes the 5.4 per cent increase given earlier this year but does not include the weight of London.
Junior doctor salaries have risen by almost 30 per cent in the last three years, including 22.3 per cent since Labor came to power. But the BMA says doctors need an extra 26 per cent increase over the next few years to restore their pay since inflation started to fall in real terms in 2008.
At the current 5.4 per cent increase, the BMA says doctors’ wages will not be clawed back for 12 years or until 2036.
The BMA is calling for salaries to be increased over a flexible negotiation period to between £47,308 and £54,274 for foundation doctors and up to a maximum of £90,989 for top-level specialist trainees.
There are also calls from junior doctors to reduce competition for residency training positions; many struggle to find work even if they have worked in the NHS.
What did the government offer?
The government made a last-minute proposal to the BMA on Wednesday (December 10) to increase specialist training posts, differentiated from existing roles, by 4,000 over the next three years.
There were more than 30,000 applications for 10,000 of these jobs in 2025; Some of them came from abroad.
The government’s proposal also promises to prioritize UK graduates or those already working in the NHS for these roles, and to cover certain costs such as exam fees.
No pay rise was included in the offer as Mr Streeting was adamant he would not reopen pay talks.
Junior doctors overwhelmingly voted to reject the proposal by 83 to 17 percent.
Chairman of the BMA’s resident doctors committee, Dr. Jack Fletcher said: “Our members have considered the government’s offer and their resounding response should leave no doubt how badly the health secretary has missed the opportunity to end the strike.
“There are no new jobs in this proposal. On paper it cannibalised jobs that already existed for the sake of ‘new’ jobs. There was also nothing Mr Streeting said was a drive to regain our wages – this has clearly hit the bumpers.”
Justifying the offer, Mr Streeting said it would “halve job competition and put more money into junior doctors’ pockets, but he rejected the offer again because it did not meet the BMA’s demands for a 26 per cent additional pay increase.”
“Assistant doctors’ salaries have already been increased by 28.9 percent; there is no justification for striking just because this fantasy demand is not met.”
