Resident doctors on the picket line outside Leeds General Infirmary, on the first day of a five-day walkout over pay and jobs, which could see up to half of the medical workforce in England could stop work, December 17, 2025
RESIDENT doctors are keen to resume talks with the government to avoid further strikes but “must see less name-calling and more deal-making” from Health Secretary Wes Streeting, said the British Medical Association (BMA) today.
Medics will enter 2026 a “renewed can-do spirit,” added the union as they returned to work after a five-day walkout in England as part of their long-running dispute over jobs and pay.
The BMA’s resident doctors committee chair Dr Jack Fletcher said: “What we need is a proper fix to this jobs crisis and a credible path towards restoring the lost value of the profession.
“That must mean the creation of genuinely new jobs, and it could involve a responsible multi-year approach to restoring doctors’ pay.
“Those are solutions that mean we can build out our future workforce to end the current crisis, solutions which are very much within government’s power.”
The strike followed 83 per cent of resident doctors voting to reject a government offer for more specialist training places but no extra pay. Turnout was 65 per cent.
Dr Fletcher said that medics are “frustrated by the year that has just passed,” which saw Mr Streeting compare them with juvenile delinquents and “moaning minnies.”
“There have been plenty of opportunities for strike action to have been avoided but all too often the government has moved too little and too late,” he added.
Junior doctors and members of the British Medical Association (BMA) on the picket line outside Cheltenham General Hospital during their continuing dispute over pay, January 8, 2024
HEALTH SECRETARY Wes Streeting ranted on live radio today as thousands of resident doctors began their five-day strike in England.
He unleashed a tirade on LBC after north London doctor Niraj told him that “we all care about patient safety, none of us wants to be on strike, I would rather be at work today.”
The British Medical Association (BMA) called the 13th strike by doctors since March 2023, having long called for their pay to be restored to pre-austerity rates.
Despite rises by Labour, it remains about a fifth down on its real-terms value in 2008.
Mr Streeting clashed angrily after Niraj raised his union’s concerns over a lack of training places and other workforce issues.
He accused doctors of “inflicting pain and misery” on patients and holding them to ransom by its “extremely irresponsible” action.
The Health Secretary claimed the “extremely unnecessary” strikes were shocking given patients receive “a substandard service” and that the BMA was speaking for its “activists” rather than their members.
Junior doctors and members of the British Medical Association (BMA) outside Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, January 3, 2024
THE NHS could face six months of disruption after resident doctors in England voted in favour of strike action today.
Downing Street said that pay negotiations would not be reopened because the government “can’t be more generous” than it has been already this year.
Some 90 per cent of voting resident doctors in England, formerly known as junior doctors, said they would down stethoscopes and take to picket lines amid an ongoing row over pay.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said that there had been a turnout of 55 per cent and that resident doctors needed an increase of 29.2 per cent to reverse “pay erosion” since 2008-09.
The union added that there was “still time to avert strike action” and urged the government to “come forward as soon as possible with a credible path to pay restoration.”
Israel killed 70 Palestinian health workers in 50 days leading up to July 2. Source: Healthcare Workers Watch
Since October 2023, Israel has killed or imprisoned directors of every hospital in northern Gaza, continuing assaults on medical facilities.
As of July 2, 2025, Israeli forces targeted the building where Dr. Marwan Al-Sultan, director of the Indonesian Hospital, was staying with part of his family, and killed him. With the killing of Al-Sultan, Israel has killed or detained the directors of all hospitals in northern Gaza, according to Healthcare Workers Watch.
“The death of Dr. Marwan Al-Sultan is a catastrophic loss both to the medical community and to Gaza as a whole,” Healthcare Workers Watch stated. A heart specialist – one of only two remaining in the area – Dr. Al-Sultan had dedicated his life to patient care and the training of future health workers. “He is the 70th healthcare worker to be killed by the IOF in the past 50 days,” Healthcare Workers Watch added. “Israel’s lethal targeting of healthcare workers is not only causing a horrific loss of life but also obliterating their decades of lifesaving medical expertise at a time when their skills could not be needed more.”
Meanwhile, dozens of Dr. Al-Sultan colleagues remain in Israeli prisons, including Dr. Ahmed Muhanna, director of Al-Awda Hospital, and the director of Kamal Adwan, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, who was abducted in late December 2024. Since October 2023, Israeli forces have killed over 1,500 Palestinian health workers.
“At least 185 healthcare workers from Gaza and the West Bank were estimated to be in Israeli detention as of February 2025,” 25 organizations warned in a recent joint statement, calling for their immediate release. “The conditions of many of those still detained remain unknown. Many of those released have reported severe abuse, while some have died in custody.”
British doctors vote to break relations with Israel Medical Association
The continued assault on Palestinian healthcare workers and infrastructure remains a major concern and action point for medical professionals worldwide. At the annual representative meeting of the British Medical Association (BMA) held from June 23-25 in Liverpool, members passed five motions addressing health in Palestine and their own right to protest the ongoing genocide.
These motions reaffirmed previous BMA positions, including the condemnation of attacks on healthcare, and calling on the British government to respect guidance from the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court related to Israel’s actions in Gaza. They also emphasized the right of doctors and medical students to speak out against war crimes without fear of reprisal.
“Doctors and medical students must be able to legitimately challenge the actions of states and armed forces, especially when healthcare is under threat, without being unfairly accused of any kind of discrimination or threatened with disciplinary action,” the BMA stated.
Additionally, the BMA voted to oppose the integration of Israel-supportive firm Palantir into the National Health Service and to stop engaging with the Israel Medical Association “unless it endorses medical neutrality and condemns assaults on Gaza’s healthcare system,” BMA members reported on social media.
Israel’s “aid distribution” kills hundreds
Meanwhile, Israel’s takeover of humanitarian aid distribution in Gaza continued to worsen the crisis. Since Israeli authorities seized total control over collection and distribution of supplies, violence at aid access points has skyrocketed.
“The weeks following the launch of the Israeli distribution scheme have been some of the deadliest and most violent since October 2023,” warned more than 200 organizations in a July 1 statement. “In less than four weeks, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed and almost 4000 injured just trying to access and distribute food.”
“Orphaned children and caregivers are among the dead, with children harmed in over half of the attacks on civilians at these sites,” the organizations added. “With Gaza’s healthcare system in ruins, many of those shot are left to bleed out alone, beyond the reach of ambulances and denied lifesaving medical care.”
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Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone obect to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.Vote Labour for Genocide.
Vote Labour for Genocide.Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone obect to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Keir “I support Zionism without Qualification” Starmer supporting genocide.
Resident doctors on the picket line outside Leeds General Infirmary, on the first day of a five-day walkout over pay and jobs, which could see up to half of the medical workforce in England could stop work, December 17, 2025
