Striking NHS doctors vote to continue action for another six months

Junior doctors in England affiliated with the British Medical Association have voted to continue the job action for another six months as part of ongoing debate over wages and employment.

In a new vote, nearly 93 per cent of doctors voted to continue industrial action. However, turnout was only 53 percent.

In a post on

Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, said: “None of this need mean more strikes.

“In recent weeks the Government has taken a better approach compared to the name-calling we saw late last year.

“There is a deal to be done: a new jobs package and a proposal that raises wages fairly over a number of years can be worked out, with the good will of both parties, in the interest of patients, staff and the whole NHS.”

Junior doctors went on strike in the run-up to Christmas due to a long-running dispute over work and pay.

An average of 19,120 junior doctors were on strike each day between 17 and 22 December; this figure was slightly above the 17,236 average in the last November strike.

The strikes were the 14th strike by junior doctors, previously called junior doctors, since March 2023.

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.

This is a breaking story, more to come…