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Resident doctor strikes

Doctors in training in England first went on strike over pay in March 2023. By the time they accepted a deal, by 53% to 47%, the argument was as much about a shortage of jobs.

Updated 12 October 2026 (2 minute read)

BeneficenceNon maleficenceJustice
  1. First strike
  2. 22.3% deal accepted
  3. Strikes restart
  4. Law gives UK graduates priority for training posts
  5. New deal accepted by 53% to 47%

Summary

  • Resident doctors are qualified doctors who are still training, from their first year after medical school to the years before they become a consultant or GP.
  • They were called junior doctors until September 2024. About 57,000 were eligible to vote in the union's last ballot.
  • They began striking in March 2023, saying their pay had fallen by more than a quarter since 2008 once inflation was counted.
  • There had been eleven rounds of strikes by July 2024.
  • In September 2024 they accepted a pay rise averaging 22.3% over two years, with 66% voting in favour. Strikes started again ten months later, in July 2025.
Junior doctors campaigning in Norwich during an earlier dispute

Dig deeper

  • By 2025 many doctors were as worried about jobs as about pay. That year more than 30,000 doctors applied for about 10,000 specialty training posts.
  • A law passed in March 2026 gave graduates of UK and Irish medical schools priority for those posts over doctors who trained elsewhere.
  • There were three five day strikes in 2025 and a six day strike in April 2026.
  • The government made an offer on 17 June 2026:
    • at least 4,000 extra specialty posts over three years
    • exam fees paid back
    • first year basic pay up from £38,831 to £41,226
  • Members accepted on 29 June 2026 by 52.9% to 47.1%, on a turnout of 57.3%.
  • The union says pay is still almost a fifth lower than in 2008 and that it will reopen the dispute if progress stops.

Ethical issues

PrincipleHow it applies here
BeneficenceDoctors who strike argue that low pay drives colleagues out of the NHS and that patients are worse off without them. Both sides of the dispute said they were acting for patients.
Non maleficenceA strike postpones operations and appointments, so it harms some of today's patients. Emergency care kept running, largely staffed by consultants, and the regulator's position is that a doctor on strike is still responsible for patient safety.
JusticeOne question is whether doctors are paid fairly for their training and responsibility. The other is the new priority rule, which helps UK graduates who could not find posts and disadvantages doctors who trained abroad, many of whom have worked in the NHS for years.

Interview questions

  • Why did resident doctors go on strike?
  • Is it ever right for doctors to strike?
  • How can patients be kept safe during a strike?
  • UK graduates now get priority for training posts over doctors who trained abroad. Is that fair?
  • The deal passed by 53% to 47%. What does such a close vote tell you?
  • Would the pay or the strikes put you off a career in medicine?
  • How should the NHS decide how much to pay its doctors?

Sources

  1. The Doctor, BMAthedoctor.bma.org.uk/…/junior-doctors-endorse-pay-deal
  2. GOV.UKgov.uk/…/government-to-prioritise-uk-medical-graduates-for-training-p
  3. legislation.gov.uklegislation.gov.uk/…/7
  4. GOV.UKgov.uk/…/offer-to-bma-uk-resident-doctors-committee-june-2026-accessi
  5. British Medical Associationbma.org.uk/…/resident-doctors-in-england-vote-to-accept-pay-and-jobs-offe

Photo: Roger Blackwell, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, colour altered.

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