Resident doctors have called on the Government to offer a credible and ‘genuinely long-term’ plan to see an end to the long-running dispute.

A five-day strike of resident doctors in England began at 7am on Wednesday 17 December. It is the 14th round of industrial action since March 2023.

The walkout follows an indicative poll by the BMA’s resident doctor members on the weekend, which saw 83 per cent vote to reject the Government’s latest offer from a turnout of 65 per cent.

While the health secretary has been sharpening his rhetoric against the strike action, by saying the decision to strike is ‘unconscionable’ and ‘the worst thing the BMA have done’ since 1948, the association is setting its sights on a long-lasting deal that will bring an end to the dispute with a Labour government that promised an end to ‘sticking plaster politics’.

The latest offer included 4,000 new specialty training posts to help address the high rates of competition for those roles but these were re-purposed LED jobs meaning there is no net increase in the number of resident doctors.

While the offer also included covering mandatory medical royal college fees and exam costs, there was no movement on headline pay. This is despite pay restoration being the central ask of the campaign since it began back in 2022 and the health secretary himself saying that increasing resident doctors' pay would be ‘a journey’.

As the NHS Confederation suggested mediation would help break the deadlock in negotiations, Jack Fletcher, chair of the BMA UK resident doctors committee, called for calm heads and long-term thinking to get a deal over the line.

He said: ‘At the weekend, tens of thousands of frontline doctors came together to vote to tell the Government their offer was insufficient to call off these strikes. 

‘The Government should now know in very clear terms how badly they have handled this situation. Those tens of thousands of doctors will again go out on strike today, making clear that they are willing to stand up for their profession against a totally avoidable jobs crisis. With some facing unemployment and others leaving the country entirely, they are more aware than anyone that short-term thinking won’t cut it. 

‘It is well past the time for ministers to come up with a genuinely long-term plan. If they can simply provide a clear route to responsibly raise pay over a number of years, and enough genuinely new jobs instead of recycled ones, then there need not be any more strikes for the remainder of this Government. 

‘These strikes are the consequence of hurried, last-minute offers. This way of working is in no one’s interest. If we can sit down to come up with a considered, collaborative roadmap towards the restoration of the NHS workforce, then everyone can come out ahead. If the Government keeps up the pattern of denial, harsh words and rushed half-measures, then we are going to be stuck in the cycle of strikes well into the New Year. 

‘We have just had a year of denial from the Government. But the New Year can be far better if we just set our sights on a lasting deal.’

On the picket line outside Guys and St Thomas’, doctors stood in solidarity against the Government’s latest offer.

Paediatric registrar Michelle D’Souza, deputy chair of North Thames RDC, said the lack of available jobs means ‘we don’t have enough doctors on the ground’ which, in her department, means ‘children are waiting for hours to be seen’.

‘We have doctors who want jobs who can’t get the jobs because they are not available,’ she said. ‘Our pay is still down by a fifth in real terms from 2008. We don’t think a doctor is worth less than they were in 2008 so we’re asking for pay restoration to the equivalent levels.

‘Doctors don’t want to be out on strike. I would ask Mr Streeting to negotiate, come back with a credible offer and then we don’t have to go on strike.’

She said the recent vote to reject the Government’s latest offer is ‘giving us motivation to keep going’. ‘We’re staying strong.’

Harvey Steed, a foundation year 1 in acute medicine, said: ‘I’ve spent all my life wanting to be a doctor, five years at medical school, and I’m genuinely scared I won’t have a job to go to.

‘I want to work in the emergency department, and I know patients are waiting long, long times in A&E. If they can’t see a doctor, and I can’t get a job, then something needs to change. It’s reached breaking point now.

‘We need pay restoration, we need the jobs. We’re keen to work, we want to work, but this isn’t working. The most recent job offer wasn’t good enough.’

Internal medicine trainee Sarah Zbeidy said: ‘I studied for six years, trained for multiple years, I’ve been on night shifts, bank holidays, Christmas I’ll be working, and I would do this all over again, but it is unacceptable that we might be facing unemployment and our pay is not enough.

‘All we are asking is for first-year doctors to be paid four extra pounds [per hour] over multiple years.

‘It’s quite unfortunate that we have to resort to striking. I don’t want to be here. I want to be with my patients. But we have been forced to come here and strike so that people can hear us, that this is unacceptable.'

Asked to give a message to the Government, she said: ‘We are very reasonable. We know this cannot be solved in one step, and we are ready to take these steps with you. All we want is good faith and commitment from your side.’

F1 Jack Walker said: ‘The number of training places against the number of people is a crazy given how long it takes to get into this career.

‘What the Government has proposed with jobs is too vague and not long-term enough. And it feels like bad politics throwing that in at the last minute. We need something more solid, more long-term and more guaranteed.’

Medical student Amaan Abbas said it was ‘saddening’ to see that he may not be guaranteed a job, or career progression, in the future after spending seven years at university. He said the pay is also ‘not what we expected when we applied’.

He said a ‘willingness’ from government to work towards a multi-year pay deal would be ‘appreciated’.

Dr Fletcher urged resident doctors to return their ballots in the reballot to extend the strike mandate, which is running until 2 February. The last postal date is 26 January.

He said: ‘It is industrial action that has moved this government. We can keep up the pressure and move the government even further.’