Junior doctors in England are calling for a 28.7 per cent pay increase to address what they describe as years of pay erosion and to prevent further strikes that have already placed significant strain on the NHS.
The renewed demand comes as ballots for industrial action land on the doorsteps of tens of thousands of doctors across England.
The British Medical Association (BMA), which represents junior doctors—now formally referred to as resident doctors—is urging members to vote in favour of fresh strike action, accusing the government of doing “almost nothing” to resolve the long-standing pay dispute. The ballot will remain open until 7 July, with a potential strike mandate lasting through to January 2026.
This escalation follows the government’s latest offer: a 4 per cent general pay rise for most NHS doctors, with junior doctors receiving an additional one-off payment of £750. The BMA has dismissed the offer as insufficient, stating that doctors’ pay has declined by over 23 per cent in real terms since 2008.
Junior doctors argue that restoring pay to its 2008 value, adjusted for inflation, would require a near 29 per cent uplift. They maintain that anything less will continue to drive staff out of the profession and deepen the ongoing workforce crisis in the NHS.
The pay demand adds further pressure to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who is facing increasing scrutiny ahead of the government’s upcoming spending review. With fiscal rules under strain and a growing number of public services requesting urgent funding, the government’s capacity to meet pay expectations across sectors is in doubt.
Police chiefs and intelligence agencies, including the Metropolitan Police, MI5, and the National Crime Agency, have also called for increased funding, particularly in response to controversial early prisoner release plans. In a letter to the Ministry of Justice, they warned that the proposals could pose risks to public safety unless additional resources are provided.
Between March 2023 and July 2024, junior doctors staged 44 days of industrial action—the most extensive walkout in NHS history.
A temporary resolution was reached when Health Secretary Wes Streeting authorised a 22 per cent pay increase last year, followed by an additional 5.4 per cent rise in 2025.
Despite these awards, the BMA insists this still falls short of reversing a decade and a half of real-terms pay decline. The current offer, though above inflation—which rose to 3.5 per cent in April—is seen by union leaders as another delay in achieving full pay restoration.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has previously admitted that the NHS has treated its doctors poorly, but he urged medical staff not to return to strike action. He argued that the service is finally beginning to recover and that further strikes could derail progress made in cutting waiting lists and improving patient access.
Leaders of the junior doctors’ committee argue that the time to act is now. With patient waiting lists still high, overcrowded emergency departments, and GPs under pressure, they say the NHS cannot wait another decade for pay restoration.
They are calling on the government to return to the negotiating table with a credible plan to resolve the dispute and retain experienced staff. The alternative, they say, is continued disruption, low morale, and a system on the brink of collapse.
Professor Philip Banfield, chair of the BMA council, said that doctors’ pay is still roughly 25 per cent lower in real terms compared to 2008. He criticised the latest offer as another delay tactic, lacking a clear government strategy to value the medical profession appropriately.
If junior doctors vote in favour of strike action again, the resulting mandate would allow walkouts to continue into the winter months—a critical time for the NHS. With flu season, high demand, and staff shortages all expected to worsen, fresh strikes could have severe consequences for patient care.
The government has so far insisted that recent pay rises have been fair and inflation-beating. However, with mounting calls for action across multiple public sectors, and fiscal rules already stretched, ministers face tough decisions in the weeks ahead.
