Tens of thousands of doctors in England have launched a five-day strike, marking the 13th walkout by medics since March 2023.
The strike began at 0700 GMT on Friday which involved resident doctors, those below consultant level and who make up roughly half of the hospital medical workforce.
The Labour government’s health minister, Wes Streeting, condemned the walkout, accusing the British Medical Association (BMA) of “choosing confrontation over care.” In a column for the Daily Telegraph, he argued; “This strike isn’t about fairness any more. It’s about political posturing.”
Streeting stressed that the government would not budge on pay, citing a 28.9% rise over the past three years and the highest pay award across the UK public sector in two decades.
The BMA, however, insisted that doctors were still owed a 26% pay increase to restore earnings to the real value they held 20 years ago.
The union also demanded more training posts, warning that demand far outstrips supply: in some cases, more than 30,000 doctors would compete for only 10,000 training positions needed to progress toward consultant roles.
The shortage has left many highly trained doctors without permanent positions, creating a bottleneck in the healthcare system just as the UK grapples with a prolonged cost-of-living crisis.
Over the past three and a half years, teachers, nurses, ambulance staff, lawyers, train workers, and border officials has all staged industrial action, underscoring the growing tension in Britain’s public sector.
