Why resident doctors are going on strike this month

The doctors will walk out from 7am on December 17 until 7am on December 22, in their latest round of action since their walkout between 14 and 19 November.

The strike action is part of their fight with the Government over training and pay.

It follows similar strike action by resident doctors, formerly called junior doctors, between November 14 and November 19, and other previous strikes.

BMA North West England regional resident doctors committee deputy chair Dr Mohammed Kamora, which covers Bolton, said: “Patients in the North West and across the country are waiting months, even years, for treatment.

“Meanwhile, the very doctors they need, trained at taxpayer expense, struggle to find stable employment so they can give that care.

“The Health Secretary has ignored our latest call to get round the table and the Government is failing to put forward a plan to fix the job crisis for resident doctors at the same time as pushing a real terms pay cut for them.

“We have been left with no choice but to announce more strike dates.

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But Health Secretary Wes Streeting has condemned the resident doctors’ December strike announcement as a “cynical attempt to wreck Christmas”.

Responding to the British Medical Association’s (BMA) announcement that medics will walk out from December 17 to December 22, the Health Secretary said: “The BMA have clearly chosen to strike when it will cause maximum disruption, causing untold anxiety.

“After a 28.9 per cent pay rise, the Government offered to create more jobs and put money back in resident doctors’ pockets. The BMA rejected it out of hand, refused to put the offer to its members, blocking a better deal for doctors.

“Now, without a single conversation with the Government, they’re threatening more strikes at the busiest time of the year.”