Doctors vote to go ahead with five-day strike this week

This week’s five-day doctors’ strike in England will continue after members of the British Medical Association voted to go ahead with a planned strike despite a new offer from the government.

The strike by resident doctors, the new name for doctors in training, will begin at 7am on Wednesday with ministers warning patients will be put at risk due to enormous pressure on hospitals battling a wave of flu.

Some 83% voted in favor of the strike going ahead in the online poll conducted over the weekend.

The BMA agreed to the advance survey last week after the government unveiled a new deal that included increasing specialist training places and covering out-of-pocket costs such as exam fees.

But it did not include any pay promise: Health Secretary Wes Streeting has maintained that he will not negotiate on the issue after resident doctors’ pay has risen almost 30% in the last three years.

The union maintains that despite the pay increases, resident doctors’ salaries remain a fifth lower than in 2008, once inflation is taken into account.

This will be the fourteenth strike in the long conflict that began in March 2023.

Resident physicians, who make up nearly half of the medical workforce, will no longer receive emergency and non-urgent care. Experienced doctors will be hired to provide coverage.