RESIDENT doctors will stage a five-day strike in England next week after rejecting the government’s latest pay offer as just “another real-terms pay cut” today.

The British Medical Association (BMA) confirmed the walkout will go ahead from 7am on Friday, November 14, after Health Secretary Wes Streeting set out his offer of a 2.5 per cent rise for 2026-27 in writing on Wednesday, along with more speciality training places and covering the costs of mandatory exams and membership fees.

In a letter to resident doctors in England, he said: “I must underline that the enormous financial pressures facing the country mean I am not able to go further on pay.

“We cannot afford to do more at this time and no amount of strike action will change this.”

But BMA resident doctors’ committee chairman Dr Jack Fletcher said: “This does not go far enough.

“Even with this offer, thousands of doctors would still be unable to find a job – 30,000 doctors applied for 10,000 places this year – 1,000 more is not going to fix this crisis, nor come anywhere near doing so.

“Whatever else is true of this offer, Mr Streeting is still not facing up to the gravity of the situation: doctors facing unemployment while patients can’t see a doctor.”

He urged the minister to offer resident doctors a multi-year pay deal that would lead them to restore over time the significant loss in value of their salaries since 2006. 

“We have also been clear with government that they can call off strikes for years if they’re willing to offer a multi-year pay deal that restores pay over time,” he said.

“Sadly, even after promising a journey to fair pay, Mr Streeting is still unwilling to move. In fact, he has just suggested another real-terms pay cut.

“Strikes can still be avoided but first there will need willingness to offer a pay deal and a genuine solution on jobs.”

Mr Streeting called the rejection of the offer a “missed opportunity.”

But MP Diane Abbott, Mother of the House of Commons, said: “There are major doctor shortages in the NHS, partly because pay is so low.

“No-one who wants to defend the NHS would keep doctors’ or nurses’ pay so low.”