Resident doctors in England will walk out for five days consecutive days in a dispute over pay, the British Medical Association (BMA) said.
They are scheduled to strike from 7am on 25 July to 7am on 30 July, with the BMA adding it will give the government two weeks to come back to the negotiating table.
BMA resident doctors committee co-chairs, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, said in a statement they had met with Health Secretary Wes Streeting but the government would not move on pay.
They said the government wanted to focus on non-pay elements instead.
“Without a credible offer to keep us on the path to restore our pay, we have no choice but to call strikes,” they added in a statement.
“No doctor wants to strike, and these strikes don’t have to go ahead. If Mr Streeting can seriously come to the table in the next two weeks we can ensure that no disruption is caused.
“The government knows what is needed to avert strikes. The choice is theirs.”
Residents doctors in England, formerly known as junior doctors, voted to strike over pay in a BMA ballot on Tuesday, giving them a mandate for action until January 2026.
Some 90 per cent of voting resident doctors backed strike action, with the BMA reporting a turnout of 55 per cent. The union has said that resident doctors need a pay uplift of 29.2 per cent to reverse “pay erosion” since 2008/09.
A Number 10 spokesperson said earlier today: “We aren’t going to reopen negotiations on pay.
“Resident doctors have received the highest pay award across the public sector for two years in a row, and we’ve been clear that we can’t be more generous than we already have this year.”
Previous strikes by resident doctors and other staff groups saw some 1.5 million appointments, procedures and operations postponed as a result.
The waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England is currently at its lowest level for two years, according to the latest figures, with an estimated 7.39 million treatments waiting to be carried out at the end of April.
In September, BMA members voted to accept a Government pay deal worth 22.3 per cent on average over two years.
And the 2025/26 pay deal saw resident doctors given a 4 per cent uplift plus £750 “on a consolidated basis” – working out as an average pay rise of 5.4 per cent.
The BMA call for a 29.2 per cent uplift is based on Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation, the measure of average changes in the price of goods and services used by most households.
