Resident doctors will go on strike for five days at the end of July, the British Medical Association (BMA) has announced.
They will stage a full walk out from 7am on Friday 25 July until 7am on Wednesday 30 July.
More than 26,000 resident doctors voted in favour of strikes on Tuesday, while just under 3,000 voted against.
The term “resident doctor” replaced “junior doctors” last year, in a bid to better reflect their expertise and responsibilities.
The BMA called for the government to return to negotiations “as soon as possible” and said “nobody need strike” if a deal can be agreed.
The union’s resident doctors committee co-chairs, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, said they met Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Tuesday and “made every attempt to avoid strike action”.
“Unfortunately, the government has stated that it will not negotiate on pay, wanting to focus on non-pay elements without suggesting what these might be,” the BMA said.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “We aren’t going to reopen negotiations on pay.
“Resident doctors have received the highest pay award across the public sector for two years in a row, and we’ve been clear that we can’t be more generous than we already have this year.”
Doctors in England and Wales were awarded a 5.4% pay increase by the government, but the BMA still threatened strike action, claiming the increases did not account for historical pay freezes.
The BMA is calling for a rise of 29.2% to bring salaries back to “full pay restoration”.
The trade union argues this is the level at which pay has declined in real terms since 2008, when adjusting for inflation.
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‘Strike action puts NHS progress at risk’
In July 2024, the government offered resident doctors a 22% pay rise to end months of strike action.
This represented the highest public sector pay award in recent years, but the BMA said it was only a partial restoration.
In September, BMA members voted to accept a pay deal worth 22.3% on average over two years.
The 2025/26 pay deal saw resident doctors given a 4% increase plus £750 “on a consolidated basis” – working out as an average pay rise of 5.4%.
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Why are resident doctors striking again?
‘All we need is a credible pay offer’
The BMA said no doctor “took the possibility of striking lightly” but the majority of its members believed they had “no other choice”.
“Doctors have spoken and spoken clearly,” the union said.
“They won’t accept that they are worth a fifth less than they were in 2008. Our pay may have declined but our will to fight remains strong.”
The BMA said Mr Streeting had the power to “make the right decision” on pay.
“He needs to come forward as soon as possible with a credible path to pay restoration,” it added.
“All we need is a credible pay offer and nobody need strike.
“Doctors don’t take industrial action lightly – but they know it is preferable to watching their profession wither away.”
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Mr Streeting has warned the BMA the public “will not forgive” strike action by resident doctors.
He wrote in The Times any walkouts would be a “disaster” for the union and for patients, adding the government “can’t afford” more pay rises.
NHS chiefs said any return to industrial action would be “bad for patients, for staff and for the NHS”.
