Key Summary
- The ballot will run from 8 December 2025 to 2 February 2026
- BMA will seek its members views for another six months of industrial action, as the current mandate expires in January
- Health secretary Wes Streeting decried the move and said the BMA should "get back around the table and work with us"
Resident doctors in England will vote on whether to extend their mandate to carry out strikes demanding a pay hike, a union representing them said on Friday (28).
The British Medical Association said the Resident Doctors Committee (RDC) in England would reballot its members for another six months of industrial action, as the current mandate expires in January.
The ballot will run from 8 December 2025 to 2 February 2026.
RDC chair Dr Jack Fletcher said, "We’re asking doctors to vote for the mandate for six months’ more industrial action.
"If they do, it should finally be clear to the Government that half-measures, delays and vague words will not cut it. They will have little choice but to finally make a genuine offer that can take strikes off the table for years to come.
“This has been a difficult period for everyone involved. Doctors want to be caring for patients, not standing on a picket line. Patients don’t want to see doctors struggling to find a job while they can’t even see a GP. No one wants to see another six months of disruption to the NHS. But if that is what it takes to move the Government into making these reforms, then that is what must be done.”
Health secretary Wes Streeting decried the move and said, "Instead of indulging in more damaging strike action, the BMA should get back around the table and work with us."
Resident doctors, previously known as junior doctors, carried out five days of strike actions this month and another five-day walkout in July after the government said it could not meet their demands for an improved pay deal this year.
The BMA says the government's 5.4 percent pay offer does not address years of salary erosion in real terms, while the government says the deal is fair and affordable.
Last year, the newly elected Labour government quickly reached a settlement with the doctors for a 22 percent pay rise as part of its pledge to fix the National Health Service.
The BMA has been seeking a 29 percent rise this year to restore pay to 2008 levels.
Streeting wrote to the union this month stressing the "enormous financial pressures facing the country mean I am not able to go further on pay".
Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, expressed disappointment over the BMA’s decision to reballot its members for continued industrial action.
“We know that strikes have had a major financial impact on the NHS already, with the last five-day walkout estimated to have cost a staggering £300 million.
"With these costs not included in the health service’s budgets, future strikes will force NHS leaders to make difficult choices, including reducing staff and patient services to try and balance the books.
“Health leaders would urge resident doctors to reflect on the impact of further industrial action on patients, the difficult financial backdrop we’re operating in, and the generous pay rise that has already been offered to them by the government before they vote to go ahead with more walkouts, which would stretch well into the summer.”
