Resident doctors’ six-day strike in England ends Monday as pay row continues

England’s resident doctors are ending a six-day strike Monday, but the row driving 15 rounds of industrial action since March 2023 is still centered on a basic dispute: what, exactly, ministers said was on offer and what doctors say was actually promised.

The walkout ran from 7am on 7 April to 6.59am on 13 April 2026. The British Medical Association says resident doctors rejected the latest government offer because the money for pay increases would have been spread over three years, sitting alongside a 3.5% Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration Body award for 2026/27.

Ministers say the package was wider than a straight pay rise. Wes Streeting said it would have included reform of the pay structure, reimbursement of mandatory Royal College exam fees from April 2026 and at least 4,000, with a target of 4,500, additional specialty training posts over three years. He said 1,000 of those posts would have been brought forward this year to tackle bottlenecks. Streeting also said average basic pay would have risen by 4.9% in 2026/27, resident doctors would have been 35.2% better off than four years ago, and starting pay for new graduates entering the profession this year would have been nearly £12,000 higher than in 2022/23.

The BMA tells a different story. It says the dispute with government began in September 2024 and that resident doctors are still seeking pay restoration to 2008 levels, which it says would mean a 26% increase. The union says the latest offer changed in the course of talks, with the money for pay increases spread over three years, and says strikes could be avoided if ministers returned with a credible offer on both pay and jobs.

That split matters beyond the bargaining table. Doctors have criticised the use of extra training places as a negotiating tool, while the government has framed those posts as part of a broader workforce reset. Streeting has said he has not given up hope of a deal and has also signaled that stronger measures over future strikes have not been ruled out.

NHS England said the action came as the health service was coming out of the winter period, a reminder of how quickly industrial action can hit fragile rotas and delayed care. The next round of talks now carries more weight: it will decide whether the argument is narrowed to pay restoration, or widened into a longer fight over staffing, training and the future of the resident doctor workforce.