LONDON (Reuters) -Resident doctors in England will vote on whether to extend their mandate to carry out strikes, a union representing them said on Friday, as a long-running dispute with the government over pay and conditions continues.
The British Medical Association said it would ballot its members from December 8, 2025 to February 2, 2026 to extend the mandate, which is set to expire in January, by another six months.
“Instead of indulging in more damaging strike action, the BMA should get back around the table and work with us,” health minister Wes Streeting said in a statement.
Resident doctors, previously known as junior doctors, carried out five days of strike actions this month and another five-day walkout in July after the government said it could not meet their demands for an improved pay deal this year.
The BMA says the government’s 5.4% pay offer does not address years of salary erosion in real terms, while the government says the deal is fair and affordable.
Last year the newly elected Labour government quickly reached a settlement with the doctors for a 22% pay rise as part of its pledge to fix the National Health Service and in hopes to draw a line under the long-running dispute.
The BMA has been seeking a 29% rise this year to restore pay to 2008 levels. Streeting wrote to the union this month stressing the “enormous financial pressures facing the country mean I am not able to go further on pay”.
(Reporting by Muvija M; Additional reporting by Sam Tabahriti, Editing by Alistair Smout and Sarah Young)
Comments