Junior doctors strike: when is it, dates, why are they striking and how much do junior doctors get paid?

• Junior doctors in England go on five-day strike.
• The strike will take place from 7 am on Thursday, June 27 until 7 am on Tuesday, July 2.
• Junior doctors are striking over a pay dispute and have called for a 35% pay uplift.
• They say their pay has been cut by “more than a quarter” over the last 15 years.
• People should continue to use 999 for life-threatening emergencies and NHS 111 for other health concerns.

Junior doctors in England have walked out on a five-day strike over a pay dispute just before the general election.

This is the 11th walkout in 20 months as junior doctors call for a 35% pay uplift after they say their pay has been cut by “more than a quarter” over the last 15 years.

Junior doctors make up half of the medical workforce, with concern growing amongst NHS leaders about the “major disruption” services will face. People in life-threatening emergencies should still call 999 and NHS 111, on the NHS app, online, or by phone, for any other health concerns.

When is the junior doctors strike 2024?

Junior doctors have begun a five-day strike across England over a pay dispute. Members of the British Medical Association (BMA) walked out from 7 am on Thursday (June 27), with the strike expected to last until 7 am on July 2, just two days before the general election.

This is the 11th walkout by junior doctors in 20 months, the last strike took place in February and resulted in 91,048 appointments, procedures and operations being cancelled.

Junior doctors make up half of the workforce, with NHS leaders raising concerns about the “major disruption” services will face following on from the recent heatwave which saw a yellow “heat-health alert” across England.

Why are junior doctors striking?

Junior doctors are striking over a pay dispute, they say that their pay has been cut by “more than a quarter” over the last 15 years and have called for a 35% pay uplift. In the last financial year junior doctors received a pay rise “between 8.1% and 10.3%”, which was was a lot lower than their request.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said: “Last year, the Government accepted the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies in full which saw junior doctors receive a pay rise of between 8.1% and 10.3%. This was the most generous workforce settlement in the private sector.”

In a statement after announcing the strike action in May, BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said: “We made clear to the Government that we would strike unless discussions ended in a credible pay offer. For more than 18 months we have been asking Rishi Sunak to put forward proposals to restore the pay junior doctors have lost over the past 15 years – equal to more than a quarter in real terms.”

The statement continued: “When we entered mediation with Government this month we did so under the impression that we had a functioning government that would soon be making an offer. Clearly no offer is now forthcoming. Junior doctors are fed up and out of patience.” 

How much do junior doctors get paid?

Junior doctors in foundation training earn a basic salary of £32,398 to £37,303 (from April 1, 2023), according to NHS Health Careers. Foundation training takes place after completing a medical degree and sees junior doctors experience different specialities within a hospital or community setting in a rotation over two years known as FY1 and FY2.

After completing foundation training junior doctors can start specialist training in medicine or surgery, the basic salary for this from April 1, 2023 according to NHS Health Careers is from £43,923 to £63,152.

Have you been affected by the junior doctors strike? Share your experience in the comment section below.