Name: UK doctor strike: Five-day walk out over pay and job disputes
Uploaded: 2025-12-18T00:28:34.583Z
Duration: 2 min 41 s
Description: UK doctors launch a five-day walkout over pay and job conditions – As hospitals face record pressure from a severe flu surge.

UK doctors launch a five-day walkout over pay and job conditions – As hospitals face record pressure from a severe flu surge.

London

Doctors across England have started a five-day strike, organized by the British Medical Association, in protest over pay erosion and ongoing workforce challenges within the National Health Service (NHS). The strike coincides with a surge in flu cases and winter pressures, leading to delays in routine treatments and increased stress for patients.

The government has labeled the strike as 'dangerous and utterly irresponsible,' with Prime Minister Keir Starmer urging doctors to end the walkout. The action has also sparked internal criticism within the BMA, with some members questioning the union's focus and the broader financial structure of healthcare, including nurse pay. The strike is scheduled to end on Monday, but disruptions are expected to continue.

UK doctor strike: Five-day walk out over pay and job disputes

A winter of discontent in England's hospitals. A surge in flu cases and a five-day doctor's strike. And at the heart of the dispute, how to keep medical professionals in the National Health Service and protect patients waiting for care. What do we want? Jobs for doctors. When do we want it? Now. Doctors represented by the British Medical Association say the government's latest offer fails to address years of pay erosion. And what they say is a growing workforce crisis. What we're asking for is a credible deal that potentially lasts a couple of years or a number of years to, one, restore doctors' pay over a number of years, but two, see an end to strike action in the NHS by resident doctors over pay. With patients already facing long waits, hospitals are bracing themselves. Emergency care will continue, but routine treatments are being pushed back. And for patients, that could mean delays of months, not days. And while this dispute is also about workforce retention within the NHS, it has significant consequences for patient care. Those in need of treatment are frustrated. The biggest stress for patients at the moment is we are in a bad flu period and, of course, the winter pressures and now a five-day strike is that they're paying the price for something that they didn't create. The government struck a tougher note. They're dangerous and utterly irresponsible. With Prime Minister Keir Starmer accusing the union of risking patient safety and urged doctors to abandon the walkout. The dispute is unfolding as the BMA faces internal criticism, with some members arguing it's lost focus on representing the profession itself. Most doctors, senior doctors as well as junior doctors, don't approve of this. And in fact, this is really clearly a political manoeuvre. And yes, it's about money, but of course, yes, we ought to be looking at money in the health service, but we have to look at the whole structure of the money throughout healthcare. It's really ridiculous that, for example, they're trying to get more money when the nurses are certainly underpaid. And the nurses, of course, will be doing some of the jobs that they should be doing. The strike is set to run until Monday, but the disruptions are expected to last far longer. And the wider question is whether the health service is any closer to retaining its doctors and guaranteeing safe and timely care for patients. Sonia Gallego, Al Jazeera, London.

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