Three years of walkouts that cost the NHS an estimated £1bn have come to an end after resident doctors in England voted to accept the government’s offer on pay and jobs. The British Medical Association announced on Monday evening that 53% of eligible members had backed the deal in a referendum that saw 32,932 doctors cast their ballots – a turnout of 57%.
The package includes a 3.5% pay rise this year, backdated to 1 April 2026, worth an average increase of 4.9% under the wider terms. That will grow to an average 6.6% by April 2027, according to the union. Starting salaries will rise to just over £40,000, with the most senior resident doctors receiving £76,500 in basic pay – plus thousands more for unsocial hours and overtime.
“Resident doctors in England vote 53% in favour of a pay deal ending strikes that cost the NHS £1bn.”
The Department of Health and Social Care said the deal means resident doctor pay is now 35.2% higher on average than it was four years ago. There will also be 4,500 extra specialty training places over three years, faster pay progression, and a plan to cover out-of-pocket expenses such as exam fees.
The BMA had called off a planned four-day strike on 13 June – which would have been the 16th round of industrial action since 2023 – to put the offer to members. Since last July, resident medics had walked out for 21 days, at a cost of £50m a day, with hundreds of thousands of appointments and operations cancelled.
Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee, said: “These strikes did not need to happen. We spent far too long at loggerheads with the government when a solution in everyone’s interest was waiting for us: more jobs for doctors, better pay for doctors, and a better-staffed NHS secured for patients well into the future.”
The dispute began on 13 March 2023, when doctors were still known as junior doctors. Former health secretary Wes Streeting awarded a 22% pay rise in July 2024, but the committee sought further increases to compensate for the erosion of real-terms pay since 2008-09.
Health Secretary James Murray said drawing a line under the disruption was “very good news for resident doctors, patients and the NHS as a whole”, allowing the service to focus on rebuilding. But Fletcher cautioned that the vote was “by no means the end of the road for pay restoration”, adding that he hoped the government would “keep this journey going”.
Resident doctors in Northern Ireland were due to begin a 24-hour strike at 07:00 BST on 29 June, while colleagues in Scotland have already accepted a pay offer. In Wales, disputes are being resolved without strike action.