Resident doctors in England will ballot from 8 December 2025 to 2 February 2026 on whether to extend their strike mandate until August 2026. The British Medical Association (BMA) says the vote is needed to force the Government to address severe pay erosion and job shortages across the NHS
England’s resident doctors are set to decide whether to extend their strike mandate at a ballot running from 8 December 2025 to 2 February 2026, a move that could authorise further industrial action until August 2026.
BMA Resident Doctors Committee (RDC) insists that the re-ballot is essential because pay has been eroded over many years, and thousands of junior doctors still face uncertainty about jobs and career progression. The decision follows 13 rounds of strike action this year, including a full five-day walkout in November. The BMA says that only a sustained mandate will push the Government into delivering a “responsible deal on pay and job security.”
Previous resident doctor strike action has been unsuccessful
In early November, resident doctors were striking over a dispute between the committee and the Department of Health over pay restoration and the growing doctor unemployment crisis. Despite strike action, the Government has refused to offer resident doctors a multi-year pay deal or a 2.5% pay increase in 2026.
The BMA has warned that Wes Streeting’s plans to create 2,000 new speciality training places over three years, with an estimated 30,000 doctors applying for just 10,000 speciality training positions this year alone.
BMA resident doctors committee chair Jack Fletcher said: “This has been a difficult period for everyone involved. Doctors want to be caring for patients, not standing on a picket line. Patients don’t want to see doctors struggling to find a job while they can’t even see a GP.
“No one wants to see another six months of disruption to the NHS. But if that is what it takes to move the Government into making these reforms, then that is what must be done.”
The BMA and NHS Confederation respond
BMA resident doctors committee chair Jack Fletcher added it was regrettable that another extension to continue industrial action was necessary, adding he hoped another ‘yes’ vote would convince the Government of doctors’ determination for real change.
He said, “A new mandate for strikes should not be necessary. We should have been able to put this dispute to bed months ago with a responsible deal on jobs and pay. It would have only taken a plan to raise pay over a few years gradually and some common-sense reforms to ensure job security so that doctors aren’t threatened with unemployment.
“Such a plan was perfectly within reach of this Government, and we had hoped they would seize the chance to rebuild our medical workforce. Instead, the Government waited until we announced industrial action before making an additional offer.”
He added: “We’re asking doctors to vote for the mandate for six months’ more industrial action. If they do, it should finally be clear to the Government that half-measures, delays and vague words will not cut it. They will have little choice but to finally make a genuine offer that can take strikes off the table for years to come.”
Responding to the announcement that the British Medical Association (BMA) resident doctors committee in England will reballot its members to seek a mandate for another six months of industrial action, Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said:
“NHS leaders will be incredibly disappointed at the BMA’s decision to reballot its members for yet more industrial action.
“We know that strikes have had a major financial impact on the NHS already, with the last five-day walkout estimated to have cost a staggering £300 million. With these costs not included in the health service’s budgets, future strikes will force NHS leaders to make difficult choices including reducing staff and patient services to try and balance the books.
“Health leaders would urge resident doctors to reflect on the impact of further industrial action on patients, the difficult financial backdrop we’re operating in, and the generous pay rise that has already been offered to them by the government before they vote to go ahead with more walkouts, which would stretch well into the summer.”
