Resident doctors in England to reconsider pre-Christmas strike after new Government offer
Wes Streeting responded on Wednesday by saying the BMA was threatening to "douse the NHS in petrol, light a match and march its members out on strike"
Resident doctors in England will reconsider their pre-Christmas strike after receiving a new offer from the Government.
Listen to this article
The British Medical Association union confirmed its members would be reconsidering the planned five-day action, due to start on December 18.
The planned walkouts were to be staged over pay and working conditions.
The BMA says the offer includes an increase in the number of specially training posts over the next three years - from 1,000 to 4,000 - with more to start in 2026.
It also offers the prioritisation of UK graduates and will cover exam fees of mandatory Royal College exams.
đ¨ Calling all resident doctorsđ¨
— The BMA (@TheBMA) December 10, 2025
The Government has put forward an offer to end the jobs crisis for doctors in England. We will poll members in the coming days to gauge if the offer is enough to call off the next strikes that are due to start on 17 December.
The offerâŚ
The BMA said on Wednesday that it will conduct an online survey of members on if they believe the offer is sufficient to call off the strike action, which will close on December 15.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday evening, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the BMA was threatening to "douse the NHS in petrol, light a match and march its members out on strike."
The group's resident doctors committee chair Dr Jack Fletcher said:⯠"This offer is the result of thousands of resident doctors showing that they are prepared to stand up for their profession and its future.
"It should not have taken strike action, but make no mistake, it was strike action that got us this far.
"We have forced the Government to recognise the scale of the problems and to respond with measures on training numbers and prioritisation.
"However, this offer does not increase the overall number of doctors working in England and does nothing to restore pay for doctors, which remains well within the government's power to do."
Speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday evening, Health Secretary Mr Streeting told MPs: âAs we head into winter, our hospitals are running hot and the pressures on the NHS are enormous.
"Flu season has come earlier, with a sharp rise in cases â the peak still to come â and this yearâs strain more likely to affect older people more severely.
"Already, the number of patients in hospital in England with flu is the highest on record at this point in the year. It is 50 per cent higher than this time last year, and 10 times higher than in 2023 â 95 per cent of hospital beds are occupied, growing numbers of staff are off sick, and we are already seeing the pressure in our A&E departments.
"It is against this backdrop that the BMA is threatening to douse the NHS in petrol, light a match and march its members out on strike."
He added: "The BMA resident doctors committee is in dispute on two issues â pay and jobs.
"On pay, resident doctors have already received a 28.9 per cent pay rise, the highest in the public sector.
"For a first year resident doctor, that is the equivalent of a ÂŁ9,400 pay rise. I have been consistent, honest and upfront with resident doctors that we cannot go further on pay this year.
"There is a gap between what the BMA is demanding and what the country can afford.
"Nor would further movement on pay be fair to other NHS staff for whom I am also responsible, and many of whom will never in their careers earn as much as the lowest paid doctor."
Mr Streeting made clear if the resident doctors do go ahead with their industrial action he will retract the Government's offer, because not doing so would âincentiviseâ strikes.
The Health Secretary told the Commons: "I regret to say that if the BMA reject this offer, we will not be proceeding with this offer at this time. I wish we werenât in this transactional lock, I wish we could just move forward together in a spirit of partnership with a bit of give and take.
"Thatâs not where we are. I think I would be crucified by the public if I were to take a different approach, I think it would be the wrong thing to do, and it would incentivise people to strike further, and I canât tolerate that any longer."
However, Mr Streeting said he had sympathy with the BMAâs demands over jobs.
He said: "On jobs, I have much more sympathy with the BMA demands.
"I have heard the very real fears resident doctors across the country have about their futures. It is a legitimate grievance that I agree with."