30/05/2026
Following weeks of talks between the Government and the BMA, the new Health Secretary, James Murray, has made clear he will not increase the investment in the offer already rejected by resident doctors.
Without any meaningful change to the latest offer the resident doctor committee (RDC) has been left with no choice but to call further strike action in England. The action will run from 7.00am Monday 15th June to 6.59am Friday 19th June, with more strike dates in July to be announced in the event of no further progress being made.
Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of RDC, said:
“We had hoped that a change in leadership at the Department of Health and Social Care would lead to a change in approach. Sadly, we have run up against the same unwillingness to move we encountered under Mr Streeting.
“We were prepared to give Mr Murray time to settle into his role before completing the work his predecessor left unfinished - to both make a fair and meaningful pay offer and make concrete commitments to end the jobs bottleneck throttling the careers of our colleagues. He had a genuine opportunity to break this logjam with fresh energy and ambition.
"He has not taken it. Instead, we are hearing the same tired line: vagueness on new jobs and no further money on the table. We cannot be asked to negotiate in good faith for weeks, only to be told there is nothing left to negotiate about on pay and no further details at this stage on jobs.
"Thousands of doctors continue to leave the NHS, and take-home pay remains a fifth lower in real terms than it was in 2008. If Mr Murray wishes to make a success of his new role, he must confront this issue before any other.
"We are prepared to accept that he may have inherited plans already in motion when he took office. If so, he now has a new opportunity to demonstrate genuine leadership and prevent further strike action. Our ask is straightforward: a credible, meaningful offer comprising concrete new jobs and real progress towards pay restoration.
"Mr Murray arrives in this role directly from the Treasury, where his job was to weigh the costs and benefits of public spending. We would expect him, of all people, to understand that the costs of prolonged, avoidable strike action would far outweigh a deal that secured the future of the NHS workforce. The calculation is not a difficult one.”
