50,000 British doctors start 5-day strike over pay, health secretary warns agitators

  Striking doctors must feel the “pain” of taking industrial action to prevent the spread of walkouts in other public sectors, Wes Streeting has warned.

 The health secretary has instructed hospitals to minimise disruption to appointments as safely as possible, as up to 50,000 junior doctors staged a five-day walkout in the latest row over pay.

 Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, have called for a 29 per cent pay increase and have taken to the picket lines across England from 7am on Friday, as part of a five-day walkout due to last until Wednesday.

 In a transcript seen and reported by The Telegraph, Streeting told NHS leaders: “It is really important that these strikes are not pain-free for resident doctors or the BMA, because otherwise we will see broader contagion across the BMA and potentially broader contagion across the public sector.”

 In response, Sir Jim Mackey, the chief executive of NHS England described the strikes as “very annoying and disappointing” and warned that the move “can’t be consequence-free”.

 It is understood that Sir Jimhad told trust leaders to try to crack down on resident doctors’ ability to work locum shifts during the strike and earn money that way.

 It has also been reported that doctors will be warned that repeated absences from duties could slow career progression.

 It comes after Streeting sent a personal letter to NHS resident doctors, saying: “I deeply regret the position we now find ourselves in.”

 The health secretary said that while he cannot pledge a bigger pay rise, he has been committed to progress to improve doctors’ working lives.

 He also said he does not now believe the British Medical Association’s resident doctors committee (RDC) has “engaged with me in good faith” over bids to avert the strike.

 Streeting said resident doctors have now had an average 28.9 per cent pay award under Labour.

 He added: “Strike action should always be a last resort – not the action you take immediately following a 28.9 per cent pay award from a Government that is committed to working with you to further improve your lives at work.

Britain's Health Secretary Wes Streeting, centre, being briefed by staff during a visit to NHS National Operations Centre on Friday. AP

 “While I’ve been honest with the BMA RDC that we cannot afford to go further on pay this year, I was prepared to negotiate on areas related to your conditions at work and career progression, including measures that would put money back in the pockets of resident doctors.”

 Streeting later said there is “no getting around the fact that these strikes will hit the progress we are making in turning the NHS around”.

 He added: “But I am determined to keep disruption to patients at a minimum and continue with the recovery we have begun delivering in the last 12 months after a decade-and-a-half of neglect. We will not be knocked off course.”

 The National Health Service said emergency departments would be open and hospitals and clinics would try to carry out as many scheduled appointments as possible, according to the Associated Press.

 Dr. Melissa Ryan and Dr. Ross Nieuwoudt, chairs of the union’s resident doctors committee, said "pay erosion has now got to the point where a doctor’s assistant can be paid up to 30% more than a resident doctor.”

 Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged the doctors to go back to work.

 "Most people do not support these strikes. They know they will cause real damage,” he wrote in the Times newspaper.

 "Behind the headlines are the patients whose lives will be blighted by this decision. The frustration and disappointment of necessary treatment delayed. And worse, late diagnoses and care that risks their long-term health," Starmer wrote.

 Health sector staff staged a series of rolling strikes over more than a year in 2023-24, seeking pay rises to offset the rising cost of living. The strikes forced tens of thousands of appointments and procedures to be postponed.

 The strikes hit efforts by the National Health Service to dig out of an appointment backlog that ballooned after the COVID-19 pandemic and led to longer waiting times to see a doctor.

 The strikes stopped after the Labour government elected in July 2024 gave doctors a raise, but the union held a new strike vote last month.