Resident Doctors on Strike (again).
Resident doctors on strike outside St Thomas’s hospital, London, 25 July 2025. Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
Not again?
Resident Doctors have been on strike this week; their 5-day action came to an end on Tuesday and although talks are set to resume, it seems that their financial demands for restoration of pay parity will not be met any time soon.
Regular readers will know that I supported the strikes in 2023-2024 by both Consultants and Junior (now Resident) Doctors. You can find my articles here, here, here and here. This time Public support for this strike seems to have weakened, with many people and most media organisations expressing some opposition.
Many Doctors experience extreme levels of stress in very demanding roles, but as a stroing advocate for Resident Doctors I found myself asking whether strike action was the best way forward at this time. I have explored the reasons for the e weakening of the public attiitiude and wonder the Resident Doctors have successfully shared their message with us?
Why opposition?
Public and media opposition has focussed on disruptions in patient care. The NHS has still not returned to normal after Covid. Waiting times are long; the media tell us that strikes have led to cancellations of clinic appointments and operations, increasing waiting times and anxiety for patients.
Pay Demands are seen to be excessive and out of touch. Last year Resident Doctors received a 22% rise (albeit spread over 2 years) and have been offered more than 5% this year. However the BMA are asking for up to 29% more. Many Public Sector workers have settled for much less, despite experiencing real erosions in pay. The problems in the NHS are many, and the Public do not believe they can be solved by pay increases alone.
Strikes erode goodwill. The public have generally sided with Doctors over Politicians in recent disputes; however Wes Streeting (Secretary of State for Health) said this week that Resident Doctors have ‘squandered the considerable goodwill’ they had established with the government and the public. Strikes may seem irresponsible when waiting lists remain so high.
Public opinion is divided. Some remain sympathetic - recognising that Resident Doctors work long hours in challenging work conditions, and at relatively poor rates of pay despite last year’s increases. Others see Doctors prioritising their own interests above those of their patients.
Finally it seems that Resident Doctors have not explained themselves very well; the rationale for the strike is not clear and the Public does not understand what solutions (apart from increased pay) will improve patient outcomes.
So why did Resident Doctors go on strike?
A major issue was pay. Resident doctors say that their pay has eroded by 20% since 2008 due to below-inflation rises and rising costs of living. They seek restoration to 2008/9 levels to make up for this loss. the BMA argues that current pay does not reflect the responsibilities and pressures of their roles. Restoration to 2008-9 requires a significant 29.2% salary increase.
Most of the media narrative has concentrated on pay, but there are other significant issues.
Working Conditions are equally important, however. Resident Doctors work long hours, and many suffer burnout from the intensity of work and the pressures understaffing. Support for burned out Doctors is pathetically weak. As a result Doctors are leaving the NHS in droves, either to work overseas or to leave Medicine altogether. This causes further understaffing and increases pressure on those who are left.
Career Progression is poor, with frustration over contracts, training bottlenecks and a lack of a clear future routes to permanent positions. In a recent survey over half of Resident Doctors finishing foundation training did not have their next job lined up. Job uncertainty is a real feature of Resident Doctors lives.
Debt is a massive issue, with Resident Doctors facing a huge burden from student debt and training costs. Despite having responsible and skilled jobs, they often borrow money and make personal financial sacrifices to meet living costs which cannot be met by their current pay levels. Those who emigrate not only receive significantly higher rates of pay, they also lose responsibility for student debts, often amounting to over £100,000.
Pay negotiations are not equitable. They do not take account of years where below inflation pay increases were given - such as the 2% rise in 2022, just after the attrition of Covid when inflation was soaring. Negotiations which have failed to deliver on pay have also failed to deliver long-term improvements in non-pay elements - such as tackling training bottlenecks, improving work-life balance and managing burnout.
The message received by the Public is all about pay, and whilst Resident Doctors seek a solution to pay erosion, they also want improvements in their intense and often damaging working conditions, job insecurity, lack of training opportunities and career progression, and a genuine desire by the NHS to prevent burnout by recognising and remediating the risks before burnout occurs.
Overall I cannot help feeling that the Resident Doctors risk losing public goodwill because they have not been able to explain their message to the public.
My sympathy and support is, as always, with the Resident Doctors. On this occasion however I wonder whether strike action was the best tactic after a relatively large pay rise in 2024. Perhaps it has focussed the mind of Mr Streeting and others on the need to deal with the non-pay issues in a manner that makes a career in Medicine more attractive. The NHS must commit to supporting Doctors rather than railroading them into burnout.
The message is clear; the NHS needs to look after its staff, not just by paying them more but by improving their working life, minimising their stress and distress, and delivering care for staff who are struggling to manage the exceptionally demands we, as the public, place upon them.
As a Resident Doctor you may have been on strike; you may have decided not to strike. Either way you will have experienced conflict and marginalisation despite being committed to improving the NHS and the working lives of your colleagues.
You may now feel at odds with your employers and unsupported by the public. If so, please seek help from an Executive Coach who can help you navigate thought these difficulties. You can book a free no obligation 30 minute on-line conversation with me here. If I am not the right Coach for you, I will recommend somebody else who might be.
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