{"id":7489,"date":"2026-04-05T23:30:49","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T23:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/?p=7489"},"modified":"2026-04-05T23:30:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T23:30:49","slug":"doctors-boast-strike-gives-them-10-days-off-over-easter-as-streeting-accuses-them-of-inflicting-misery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/?p=7489","title":{"rendered":"Doctors boast strike gives them 10 days off over Easter as Streeting accuses them of inflicting ‘misery’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By XANTHA LEATHAM, EXECUTIVE SCIENCE EDITOR<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published:<\/span>

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Striking doctors have boasted their latest walkout gives them 10 days off over Easter<\/a> as they prepare to take industrial action during school holidays.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the strike, which will begin at 7am tomorrow, medics have said the timing is very good for \u2018saving childcare\u2019.<\/p>\n

In a bragging social media post, one wrote: \u2018This is chef\u2019s kiss after a four-day bank holiday weekend\u2019.<\/p>\n

When one doctor expressed concern about picket line attendance, another replied: \u2018I suspect the ability to have 10 days off will make turnout quite high\u2019.<\/p>\n

Writing on Reddit<\/a>, one user said it was \u2018good that trusts will have to pay higher locum rates for consultant cover\u2019.<\/p>\n

They also rejoiced that there is a \u2018greater chance elective work will be cancelled\u2019.<\/p>\n

The strike by tens of thousands of resident doctors in England, previously known as juniors, will last until next Monday at 7am.<\/p>\n

Health secretary Wes Streeting accused medics of inflicting \u2018misery\u2019 on patients and disrupting efforts to fix the NHS.<\/p>\n

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This week’s walk out will be the 15th round of strikes by resident doctors in England since 2023 and is expected to cost the NHS more than \u00a3250million in overtime payments and lost activity (Medics are pictured striking on March 27)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In an attack on union bosses, Mr Streeting criticised the British Medical Association (BMA) for trying to \u2018slam on the brakes\u2019 on progress and reform.<\/p>\n

\u2018For months, we have been locked in negotiations with the BMA to end the misery that strike action is inflicting on patients and other NHS staff,\u2019 he wrote in The Telegraph.<\/p>\n

\u2018[But] the BMA\u2019s Resident Doctors Committee rejected [our] offer and on the very same day announced an unprecedented six days of strike action, immediately after this Easter weekend, designed to cause maximum disruption to patients.\u2019<\/p>\n

First-year junior doctors have seen their starting salaries rise from \u00a325,209 to \u00a340,190 in the past 16 years.<\/p>\n

So far, the BMA has rejected a pay rise deal that would have seen average doctors\u2019 salaries rise by another 4.9 per cent.<\/p>\n

The proposed deal would have taken their total pay rise over the past three years to 35 per cent.<\/p>\n

If the offer had been accepted, first-year junior doctors would have enjoyed a \u00a31,100 pay increase, pushing starting salaries to around \u00a341,226.<\/p>\n

The Department of Health and Social Care said an offer of 1,000 extra training places will no longer be \u2018financially or operationally\u2019 possible as the NHS prepares to deal with the fallout from industrial action.<\/p>\n

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The Government has scrapped plans to expand speciality doctor training places after the British Medical Association failed to call off this week’s strike<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This week’s walkout will be the 15th round of strikes by resident doctors in England since 2023 and is expected to cost the NHS more than \u00a3250 million in lost activity and overtime payments to senior colleagues.<\/p>\n

NHS England said hospital teams across the country will be working to minimise disruption for patients during the walkout, which is \u2018expected to be particularly challenging\u2019 because of a shorter notice period.<\/p>\n

\u2018It is disappointing for patients and staff alike that the BMA has decided to press ahead with strikes this week, despite the deal we put to them which would have seen resident doctors 35.2 per cent better off, on average, than they were four years ago,\u2019 Mr Streeting said last night.<\/p>\n

In response Dr Jack Fletcher, BMA resident doctors\u2019 committee chair, said: \u2018We are willing to bring an end to industrial action, but we are not seeing that willingness from the Government so far.\u2019<\/p>\n

He added: \u2018We know that strikes bring disruption \u2013 despite NHS England\u2019s assurances that it can maintain the vast majority of services running for patients during times of industrial action.\u2019<\/p>\n

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See how you like it: BMA staff walk out as hypocritical union refuses to give them a payrise<\/h3>\n
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Staff employed by the \u2018hypocritical\u2019 British Medical Association will walk out again tomorrow amid an ongoing row over pay.<\/p>\n

The union is offering 2.75 per cent while demanding the Government pay resident doctors an extra 26 per cent on top of the 28.9 per cent they have received over the past three years.<\/p>\n

Officials say they cannot afford to pay staff more despite the BMA\u2019s latest published accounts showing it has \u00a357million in the bank and \u00a3230million of net assets.<\/p>\n

BMA members have rejected similar arguments from ministers, who have repeatedly said the country cannot afford to meet the demands of resident doctors.<\/p>\n

\u2018The BMA say they can\u2019t afford more, which just about sums up their hypocrisy – not willing to put their hands in their pockets to pay for their staff, but always ready to ask taxpayers to cough up more for them,\u2019 Health Secretary Wes Streeting said.<\/p>\n

More than 400 staff, who are represented by GMB Union, will walk out on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.<\/p>\n

Donna Thomas, GMB Regional Organiser, said: \u2018The BMA is asking the government for pay restoration for their doctor members but have failed to restore the pay of their own staff, who have seen their wages eroded nearly 17 per cent.<\/p>\n

\u2018Our members will be going ahead with further strikes on 6th and 7th April, which means BMA staff won’t be on the resident doctors’ picket lines for the start of their strike.<\/p>\n

\u2018They will be on their own picket line, once again fighting for their own pay after yet another sub-inflationary offer.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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By XANTHA LEATHAM, EXECUTIVE SCIENCE EDITOR Published: 19:01 EDT, 5 April 2026 | Updated: 19:01 EDT, 5 April 2026 Striking doctors have boasted their latest walkout gives them 10 days off over Easter as they prepare to take industrial action during school holidays. Ahead of the strike, which will begin at 7am tomorrow, medics have<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[520],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7489","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hot"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}