Militant junior medical doctors WILL nonetheless strike regardless of determined Government supply as ‘superflu’ continues to batter hospitals

Resident doctors will still strike this week despite a last ditch attempt by the Government to avoid bringing hospitals to a standstill amid a record-breaking surge in flu. 

Thousands of medics — previously known as junior doctors — will walk out in the run-up to Christmas from December 17 to December 22. 

Health secretary Wes Streeting last week offered the British Medical Association (BMA) a deal in the hope of avoiding the five-day strike.

The doctors’ union had agreed to put the offer to members, which included a fast expansion of specialist training posts as well as covering out-of-pocket expenses such as exam fees. 

But the survey today found resident doctors had voted overwhelmingly to reject the deal, by 83 per cent to 17 per cent. 

It comes as health chiefs have warned that the NHS is facing the ‘worst case scenario’ this winter with hospitals seeing record demand as mutant flu sweeps across the country.

Figures show more than 2,600 beds alone were taken up by flu patients every day last week, the highest ever for this time of year. 

Mr Streeting today condemned the announcement as ‘self-indulgent, irresponsible and dangerous’ and accused the union of ‘shocking disregard for patient safety’.

British Medical Association (BMA) bosses claimed the survey should leave Wes Streeting in ‘no doubt about how badly he has just fumbled his opportunity to end industrial action’. Pictured: Resident doctors on the picket line outside St Thomas’ Hospital in London last month

Industry leaders also labelled the vote outcome a ‘bitter pill’ warning that it would ‘inevitably result in harm to patients’.

The health secretary said: ‘The BMA has chosen Christmas strikes to inflict damage on the NHS at the moment of maximum danger, refusing the postpone them to January to help patients and other NHS staff cope over Christmas. 

‘There is no need for these strikes to go ahead this week, and it reveals the BMA’s shocking disregard for patient safety and for other NHS staff. 

‘These strikes are self-indulgent, irresponsible and dangerous.

‘The government’s offer would have halved competition for jobs and put more money in resident doctors’ pockets, but the BMA has again rejected it because it doesn’t meet their ask of a further 26 per cent pay rise. 

Resident doctors have already had a 28.9 per cent pay rise — there is no justification for striking just because this fantasy demand has not been met.

‘I am appealing to ordinary resident doctors to go to work this week. 

‘There is a different magnitude of risk in striking at this moment. Abandoning your patients in their hour of greatest need goes against everything a career in medicine is meant to be about.

‘The entire focus of my department and the NHS team will now be on getting the health service through the double whammy of flu and strikes. 

‘We have already vaccinated 17 million people, 170,000 more than last year, and we will be working intensively with frontline leaders to prepare for the coming disruption.’

Hitting back, BMA resident doctors committee chair Dr Jack Fletcher said: ‘Our members have considered the Government’s offer, and their resounding response should leave the health secretary in no doubt about how badly he has just fumbled his opportunity to end industrial action. 

‘Tens of thousands of frontline doctors have come together to say “no” to what is clearly too little, too late.

‘There are no new jobs in this offer — he has simply cannibalised those jobs which already existed for the sake of “new” jobs on paper. 

‘Neither was there anything on what Mr Streeting has said is a journey to restoring our pay — that has clearly hit the buffers.

‘This week’s strike is still entirely avoidable — the health secretary should now work with us in the short time we have left to come up with a credible offer to end this jobs crisis and avert the real terms pay cuts he is pushing in 2026. 

‘We’re willing to work to find a solution if he is.

Health secretary Wes Streeting today condemned the announcement as ‘self-indulgent, irresponsible and dangerous’

‘We remain committed to ensuring patient safety, as we have done with all previous rounds of strike action, and urge hospital trusts to continue planning to ensure safe staffing. 

‘We will be in close contact with NHS England throughout the strikes to address safety concerns if they arise.’

Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, also said: ‘This vote is a bitter pill which will inevitably result in harm to patients and damage to the NHS.

‘We had hoped that the Government’s recent updated offer would be enough to head off another walkout at a time when so many people are suffering with flu, and the NHS needs all hands on deck.

‘Trust leaders and staff will be working now to minimise the impact of the strike, but sadly it will mean further disruption and delays, and a very difficult Christmas for the health service.

Resident doctors were offered a 5.4 per cent pay rise in May following a review of public sector pay. 

The increase, recommended by an independent pay review body, was above the rate of inflation, which jumped to 3.5 per cent in April, the highest since January 2024. 

But the BMA labelled the uplift an ‘insult to doctors’ and said a pay lift of 29.2 per cent was vital to reverse ‘pay erosion’ since 2008. 

It comes as the BMA itself has also been accused of offering its own clerical and administrative staff a pay rise well below inflation.

BMA management proposed a pay increase of two per cent for staff, alongside a one-off cash payment of up to £1,500 and an additional day of leave over Christmas.

It stated the total cash value of the offer ranged from 3.2 per cent to 16.31 per cent, with the extra days off contributing a further 1.2 per cent.

But GMB, the union representing around 75 per cent of BMA staff, argued that these figures were misleading, as they included one-off payments rather than ongoing pay increases and the 16 per cent figure applied only to a tiny minority of senior managers.

GMB described the offer as ‘disappointing’, adding that the offer was one the BMA would ‘never accept for doctors’. 

Resident doctors make up around half of all doctors in the NHS.

During their first foundation year after finishing their medical degree, resident doctors in England earn a basic salary of £38,831. In their second year, this rises to £44,439.

Medics are often expected to work night shifts, weekends and longer hours for extra payments.

After eight years or more as a resident doctor, salaries can progress to around £70,000.

The BMA claimed first year resident doctor pay is 21 per cent lower in real terms than it was in 2008.

It wants pay for the group to be brought back in line with the level it was at 17 years ago, when they say their value of their pay started to be eroded.

The claim is based on a measure of inflation called the Retail Price Index (RPI) — this includes housing costs and shows higher price increases than some other inflation measures.

However, the Government says RPI is outdated. 

Instead, it uses the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) to calculate inflation and pay increases.

CPI looks at the cost of goods and services based on a basket of household items. 

Using the CPI measure, the government says resident doctors’ current pay is fair.

Analysis from health think-tank the Nuffield Trust has suggested that pay has fallen 5 per cent since 2008 if CPI is used.