Starmer Gives Doctors 48 Hours to Cancel Strike or Lose NHS Jobs Package

Sir Keir Starmer issued a stark ultimatum to the British Medical Association, giving the union 48 hours to cancel a planned six-day doctor strike after Easter or lose a package of extra NHS specialty training posts. Writing in The Times, the Prime Minister called the BMA resident doctors' committee's decision to reject the government's offer "reckless" and demanded the union allow its members to vote on the deal.

"Walking away from this deal is the wrong decision. It is a reckless decision. And doing so without even giving resident doctors themselves the chance to vote on it makes it even worse," Starmer wrote. "Because the truth is this: no one benefits from rejecting this deal."

The walkout is due to begin at 07:00 BST on Tuesday and would run through April 13, making it the joint longest strike of the dispute. Only once before have resident doctors taken part in a six-day strike. It would mark the 15th walkout in the long-running standoff. Resident doctors make up nearly half of all medics in the NHS, and two thirds of them hold BMA membership.

The government's 48-hour clock is tied directly to the NHS training application calendar. Applications for specialty training posts, which run through the summer, open in April, and Thursday is the last day posts can be entered into the system, the government said. The BBC reported the prime minister warned 1,000 extra training places could be withdrawn if the strike proceeds. The Telegraph put the figure higher, reporting Starmer would withdraw an offer of at least 4,000 new specialty training posts.

The deal the BMA resident doctors' committee rejected last week included a 3.5% pay rise coming in April, recommended by the independent pay review body and covering all doctors. The offer also covered out-of-pocket expenses such as exam fees and accelerated progression through the five resident doctors pay bands. Timesandstar reported the full package would have given doctors a pay rise of up to 7.1% this year.

The union's position remains full pay restoration to 2008 levels, the equivalent of a 26% rise. The committee rejected the offer without putting it to a member ballot, a decision Starmer singled out for particular criticism in his Times article.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting had consistently maintained he could not offer resident doctors further pay increases after they received rises totalling nearly 30% across the past three years. The April uplift, Streeting argued, reflects what the independent pay review body determined was appropriate across all NHS doctors.

Starmer closed his Times article with a direct appeal to the union leadership: "They now have 48 hours to reconsider. For patients, for the NHS, and for the doctors they represent — they should."

Talks between the government and the BMA had been under way since the start of January, following two strikes in November and December. Whether the committee moves to stand down the walkout before Thursday will determine whether those specialty training posts remain on the table for doctors due to begin their summer applications.