Resident doctors in England will stage a fresh round of strikes in the run-up to Christmas, the British Medical Association (BMA) has announced.
The five-day walkout, confirmed by the medics’ union this week, will take place from 7am on 17 December until 7am on 22 December.
Experts expect pressure on services to be “intense” amid surging flu cases and staff sickness, while Health Secretary Wes Streeting has accused the union of attempting to turn doctors “into the Grinch who stole Christmas” with another round of “cynical” strikes.
Doctors, however, say they have been left with “no choice” but to strike, despite NHS bosses calling the action “inflammatory” and “reckless”.
Here’s what we know about why resident doctors are striking, how much they are currently paid, and what they’re asking for.
Why are resident doctors striking?
Resident doctors – formerly known as junior doctors – are striking this month primarily for better pay and more training positions.
The action is due to the Government “failing to put forward a credible plan to fix the jobs crisis for resident doctors at the same time as pushing a real terms pay cut for them,” according to Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of the BMA’s resident doctors committee.
Despite resident doctors receiving a pay rise of 28.9 per cent over the past three years, including a 22 per cent increase since Labour came to power, the BMA argues that salaries remain a fifth lower than they were in 2008 once inflation is taken into account, and is seeking pay restoration.
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Yet to achieve its goal, the BMA has “no choice but to announce more strike dates,” Dr Fletcher said, adding: “However, these do not need to go ahead.
“Gradually raising pay over a few years and some common-sense fixes to the job security of our doctors are well within the reach of this Government.”
Recent resident doctor strikes – of which there have been 13 since March 2023 – took place from 25-30 July and 14-19 November, with the summer walkout estimated to have cost the health service £300m.
The BMA announced last week that it would ballot its resident doctor members on extending its mandate for strike action, which runs out in January, to August 2026.
How much are resident doctors currently paid?
Resident doctors are qualified doctors undergoing their first years of training.
This can be either foundation training (first two years) or core or speciality registrar training, which can continue for up to eight more years. Resident doctors, therefore, account for about half of all doctors in the NHS.
Following a 5.4 per cent increase awarded earlier this year, the pay scale for resident doctors completing their foundation training is £38,831 (year one) to £44,439 (year two).
This accounts for a 40-hour working week but does not include London weighting, extra pay for night shifts, or additional hours.
Core training salaries range from £52,656 to £65,048 over four years, while specialist training salaries range from £52,656 up to £73,992, according to pay scales on the BMA’s website.
According to the Government, this puts the average resident doctor salary across all training stages at £54,300 in 2025/26.
What are senior doctors paid?
Consultants – the nation’s most senior doctors, with specialist knowledge in a particular medical field – earn a basic salary of between £109,725 and £145,478 a year, according to the BMA.
Residents typically become eligible for consultant roles in the NHS after a minimum of five to eight years following their two years of foundation training.
What are resident doctors asking for?
The BMA has been seeking a multi-year deal for a 29 per cent pay rise on the basic rates from 2024/25 – rather than the 5.4 per cent hike announced by the Government – to combat a dip in real terms pay due to inflation since 2008.
Its demands would see resident doctors receive between £47,308 and £54,274 during their foundation training, and up to £90,989 for those at the highest end of specialist training.
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The union says inflation has eroded resident doctors’ real terms pay by 20.9 per cent since 2008, despite receiving a 28.9 per cent pay rise over the past three years.
The BMA calculates its figures using Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation, citing interest on resident doctors’ student loans being calculated in this way, whereas the Government uses the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation to calculate public sector pay increases.
Analysis from the Nuffield Trust think tank suggests that resident doctors’ real terms pay has fallen by just under five per cent since 2008 if CPI is used, compared to 20 per cent if RPI is used.
What pension do doctors receive?
Following last month’s strike, analysis suggested that resident doctors already receive a guaranteed pension of £125,000 a year – a more generous pot than those working in the private sector might receive, according to strike critics.
NHS workers receive automatic membership to the NHS Pension Scheme, which has been touted as a “great deal” for workers because employee contributions are deducted before tax.
This means that those earning the least effectively only have to contribute 80p for every £1 added to their pension, and someone paying 40 per cent tax only has to contribute 60p for every £1.
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The NHS pension also offers greater security due to it being a Defined Benefit (DB) scheme, which pays out a set amount when you retire, rather than a Defined Contribution (DC) scheme, where the amount will depend on how well investments perform and is likely to be eroded by inflation.
From data gathered by the wealth management firm Quilter, on behalf of The Times, the quoted £125,000 figure applies to doctors aged 23 who start their first year of foundation training in 2025/26.
As laid out by the NHS pension scheme, from 2015, doctors accumulate 1.85 per cent of their earnings to be stored in their pension pots.
This means that, after ten years, resident doctors will have built up a pension entitlement worth almost £12,000 a year.
If they then become a consultant and remain so until retirement at age 65, they could be guaranteed an annual pension of £124,363.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) have said, however, that a “generous” pension pot does little to entice doctors to stay working for the NHS, and the BMA continues to warn of a “brain drain” on the NHS as doctors leave the UK for countries with higher-paying and better supported healthcare sectors like Australia.
Meanwhile, experts have warned that missing records and a lack of communication have left many employees with no knowledge of how much their pensions are actually worth.
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