Doctors in England start a 5-day strike over pay. The government says it
will hurt patients
[July 26, 2025]
LONDON (AP) — Thousands of doctors in England’s state-funded health
system walked off the job Friday in a five-day strike over pay that the
government says will disrupt care for patients across the country.
Resident doctors, those early in their careers who form the backbone of
hospital and clinic care, took to picket lines outside hospitals after
talks with the government broke down.
The National Health Service said emergency departments would be open and
hospitals and clinics would try to carry out as many scheduled
appointments as possible.
The doctors are seeking a pay raise to make up for what their union, the
British Medical Association, says is a 20% real-terms pay cut since
2008.
“When doctors decide to take strike action it’s always portrayed as
though we’re being selfish, but we’re here as a body to help the public
day in, day out, to work hours that don’t even end sometimes," said
Kelly Johnson, a doctor on the picket line outside St. Thomas’ Hospital
in central London,
“Here we are just trying to get what’s right for us so we can do our
best to serve the public.”
The government says doctors have received an average 28.9% increase as
part of a deal to settle previous strikes and it will not offer more,
but is willing to discuss improved working conditions.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged the doctors to go back to work.
“Most people do not support these strikes. They know they will cause
real damage,” he wrote in The Times newspaper.
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NHS resident doctors and supporters stand outside St Thomas'
Hospital as resident doctors in England, formerly referred to as
junior doctors, begin a five-day strike after talks with the
Government collapsed over pay, in London, Friday, July 25, 2025.
(James Manning/PA via AP)
 “Behind the headlines are the
patients whose lives will be blighted by this decision. The
frustration and disappointment of necessary treatment delayed. And
worse, late diagnoses and care that risks their long-term health,"
Starmer wrote.
Health sector staff staged a series of rolling strikes over more
than a year in 2023-24, seeking pay rises to offset the rising cost
of living. The strikes forced tens of thousands of appointments and
procedures to be postponed.
The strikes hit efforts by the National Health Service to dig out of
an appointment backlog that ballooned after the COVID-19 pandemic
and led to longer waiting times to see a doctor.
The strikes stopped after the Labour government elected in July 2024
gave doctors a raise, but the union held a new strike vote last
month.
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