Get your news delivered straight to you by 7am - sign up to our new Morning mail newsletter for FREE See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy SHAUN WOOLLER Published: 22:32 BST, 29 June 2026 | Updated: 22:45 BST, 29 June 2026
Resident doctors have accepted a pay offer that brings to an end years of strikes that inflicted misery on patients and cost the NHS billions of pounds.The British Medical Association said its members had voted in favour of the deal, which is worth an extra 6.6 per cent this year.It means the medics - previously known as junior doctors - will be earning 35.2 per cent more on average than four years ago, with some taking home more than £100,000 a year before they even qualify as a consultant.Health Secretary James Murray described the development as 'very good news for resident doctors, patients and the NHS'. But the Conservatives accused Labour of 'shaking the magic money tree to bribe the BMA' and warned it would not prevent more 'damaging strikes in the future'.Thousands of medics in England were set to stage a four-day walkout on June 15, which would have been the 16th round of strike action since 2023. But it was called off on June 13 after the union agreed to put the last-ditch offer to members. The BMA said 53 per cent voted in favour of the offer, on a turnout of 57 per cent. Resident doctors have accepted a pay offer that brings to an end years of strikes which would see them earning 35.2 per cent more on average than four years ago (pictured: Resident doctors on the picket line outside Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast on June 29 2026) Health Secretary James Murray described the development as 'very good news for resident doctors, patients and the NHS'It includes an average 6.6 per cent pay uplift to be fully implemented by April 2027, reforms to the doctors' pay structure that will deliver two pay rises a year, 4,500 more specialist training places and greater reimbursements of mandatory fees, such as professional memberships and exams.A source close to Mr Murray, who supports Labour leadership hopeful Andy Burnham and appears keen to stay in his job, said: 'The fact James has been able to end this 14-month dispute in five weeks isn't an accident.'It's proof that his professional, calm, firm but fair approach is genuinely effective. James gets things done.'Resident doctors' strikes have cost the NHS £3billion, with each day of industrial action costing £50million. The BMA had warned members that if they rejected the deal, the strikes would 'escalate in intensity'.It has already indicated it would be prepared to strike again if the Government does not deliver generous pay rises in future years.Dr Jack Fletcher, of the BMA's resident doctors' committee, said: 'This is what constructive negotiations can achieve. Next time we hope they can be done without a single picket line having to form - all it takes is a government willing to think ahead and think creatively.'
