Why doctors are striking in April as Starmer gives 48-hour deadline to end walkout

Junior doctors in England will go on strike for nearly a week in April amid NHS rows over jobs and pay.

The union said the latest round of industrial action announced by the British Medical Association (BMA) will begin from 7am on April 7 to 6.59am on April 13, just after the Easter bank holiday weekend.

This marks the 15th strike by junior doctors, previously called junior doctors, since March 2023, following a similar strike in December when doctors called for their salaries to be restored to 2008 levels, representing a 26 per cent increase.

Sir Keir Starmer described the BMA’s decision to reject doctors’ latest pay deal as “reckless” on Monday, setting a 48-hour deadline to end the strikes.

Ministers will withdraw offers of thousands of NHS jobs if strikes are not called off, the Prime Minister has warned. TimesIt is stated that the NHS will suffer if the strikes continue.

Jack Fletcher, chairman of the BMA Resident Doctors Committee, hit back, saying ministers had “effectively moved the goalposts on the deal at the last minute”.

He added: “Removing the roles of potential doctors at a time when corridor care and GP queues are already putting the NHS under pressure is clearly bad for patients.

“Creating jobs and improving patient care should not depend on calling off the strike. But these negotiations are not about arbitrary cuts, as the prime minister thinks.

“Once a credible and sustainable offer is on the table, all ‘deadlines’ disappear.

“Our focus remains on securing a good deal for both doctors and patients, and we are seeking to meet with the government once again later today to achieve a meaningful outcome that would see the strikes called off and a pay deal agreed that we can support.”

Here’s everything you need to know about the dispute so far:

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 last year but does not include the London weighting.

Junior doctor salaries have increased by almost 30 per cent over the three years from 2023/24 to 2025/6; this includes 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 salaries after inflation has eroded in real terms since 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?

Last December the government made a last-minute offer to the BMA to increase specialist training posts, separate 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 which 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.

Speaking in East London last week, Health Minister Wes Streeting said the government had chosen to maintain as much pre-planned care as possible during previous rounds of strikes.

He said: “Under our predecessors, there was a recognition that when doctors went on strike, planned operations were canceled as if they were painless, consequence-free cancellations for patients.

“We did not accept this and took safety precautions to ensure that planned maintenance continued, ensuring that 95 percent of activity continued even during strikes.”