Resident doctors in England went on strike with a 97% majority, protesting the lack of training posts, job insecurity, and pay erosion
Resident doctors across England have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action, with 97% backing walkouts in protest over limited training opportunities, job insecurity, and falling pay. The British Medical Association (BMA) states that the result sends a clear message to the Government that urgent reforms are necessary to address the growing crisis in the NHS workforce. With thousands of doctors left without specialist training posts, pressure is mounting for change as strikes loom.
Resident doctors demand job security amid NHS workforce crisis
The latest BMA-supported vote saw 97% of resident doctors endorse the option of striking. This means that doctors in England now have a separate mandate for industrial action alongside that secured in the fight over pay restoration.
The ballot had a turnout of 65% and follows a recent survey from the BMA, which found that 34% of doctors had no substantive employment or regular work as of August 2025.
Responding to the ballot announcement, RDC chair Jack Fletcher said a clear message had been sent that job security at a time of workforce crisis in the NHS could not be tolerated.
He added that while doctors did not want to take strike action, it was now up to the Government to take the steps necessary to address past failures and end the dispute over training places.
He said: ‘The result of today’s ballot makes it clear that the Government will now need to step up to the plate.
‘Doctors have spoken clearly: they won’t accept that they face a career of insecurity at a time when the demand for doctors is huge. Yet successive governments have been unable to embrace the changes both doctors and patients are crying out for.
‘We do not want to have to strike, but we will if we are left with no choice. The Government has the power to end both of these disputes now: it must use this opportunity to make the changes that are desperately needed.’
Over 30,000 doctors compete for only 10,000 doctor jobs
Inadequate workforce planning by successive governments has resulted in the number of specialty training places available to resident doctors in England failing to keep pace with the number of applicants.
In 2025, more than 30,000 doctors competed for 10,000 places in the first round of specialty training, leaving thousands of doctors facing the prospect of unemployment at a time when the NHS is unstaffed.
The 10 Year Health Plan for the NHS in England has also only committed to creating an additional 1,000 places over three years. This, alongside job insecurity, is emphasised by the ongoing battle for pay, which is causing resident doctors to threaten strike action.
Dr Fletcher said that with disputes over pay and training now linked, ministers now had the opportunity to formulate a plan to address both issues and bring stability to future generations of doctors.
He said: ‘It makes no sense that despite the need to bring down waiting lists and increase capacity for patients to be seen, thousands of willing and skilled doctors are unable to find the work to begin treating them.
‘By putting these two disputes – pay and jobs – together, we are now giving the Government a chance to create a plan that supports and develops the workforce of the next generation. Patients need doctors to have jobs. Doctors need to know they will have jobs. And they need to know they will be paid what they’re worth.’
