UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s attempt to resolve the long-running dispute with resident doctors has failed, with the British Medical Association’s (BMA) Resident Doctors Committee (RDC) rejecting his latest proposal. The rejection means the five-day strike planned for next week will go ahead, marking the 13th round of industrial action since the dispute began.
Streeting’s new offer, presented on Wednesday, aimed to avert the strike by providing additional support for early-career doctors. The plan included doubling the number of specialist training posts from 1,000 to 2,000, with half of them available this year to help reduce bottlenecks in career progression. He also pledged that the NHS would cover exam fees and membership costs for professional bodies to ease doctors’ financial burdens.
However, Streeting ruled out any further pay rise for the 2025–26 financial year, citing tight public finances and the 28.9% pay increase resident doctors have already received since 2023, most of which came after Labour’s election victory in July 2024.
BMA says offer fails to address workforce crisis
Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of the BMA’s Resident Doctors Committee, dismissed the proposal, saying it did not go far enough to address the scale of the crisis. He noted that 30,000 doctors had applied for just 10,000 specialist training positions this year, arguing that adding 1,000 more places would not resolve the issue of thousands of doctors being left without jobs.
“This does not go far enough,” Fletcher said. “Even with this offer, thousands of doctors would still be unable to find a job. Mr Streeting is still not facing up to the gravity of the situation — doctors facing unemployment while patients can’t see a doctor.”
The BMA is calling for a multi-year pay agreement to restore the real-term value of doctors’ salaries lost since 2006. While the union has not specified a figure, its previous demand for a 29% pay rise remains on the table. Fletcher said Streeting’s proposed 2.5% pay increase for 2026–27 would amount to another real-terms pay cut.
Government faces growing NHS pressure
Streeting’s offer represents his latest effort to end the dispute that has disrupted NHS services for more than a year. The strikes, which began under the previous Conservative government, have continued despite Labour’s pledge to resolve them within months of taking office.
The planned five-day walkout will put further strain on hospitals already struggling with backlogs and staff shortages. NHS England estimates that more than 1.4 million appointments have been postponed due to industrial action since early 2023.
Labour’s uphill battle on NHS reform
Since taking office, the Labour government has sought to rebuild public trust in the NHS after years of underfunding and staffing crises. Streeting has positioned himself as a reformist, promising to make the NHS “fit for the future.” However, fiscal constraints and a weak economy have limited his ability to meet pay demands across the health sector.
With winter approaching — typically the NHS’s most challenging season — the failure to prevent next week’s strike adds pressure on the government to find a lasting settlement. “Strikes can still be avoided,” Fletcher said, “but first there will need to be willingness to offer a fair pay deal and a genuine solution on jobs.”
