NHS Resident Doctors Strike: How Hospital Appointments and A&E Are Affected

Resident doctors in England are not on strike as of 20 July 2026, and hospital appointments and A&E are running to normal timetables. The NHS resident doctors strike ended on 29 June 2026, when BMA members voted to accept a government pay and jobs offer, closing a dispute that had produced 15 rounds of industrial action since 2023. If you have a hospital appointment or planned surgery this summer, attend it as booked. No strike dates are currently called in England.

That is the direct answer. The more useful story, and the one most coverage has missed, is that the end of the NHS resident doctors strike was not a decisive victory for either side. It was a truce agreed by 52.9% of those who voted, with the union's own leadership warning that the peace is conditional. For patients, carers and NHS staff planning cover, understanding how fragile this settlement is matters more than knowing that the picket lines have gone.

What is happening with the NHS resident doctors strike in England

The BMA resident doctors committee (RDC) referendum closed on 29 June 2026. Members voted 17,410 to 15,522 to accept the government's offer, a margin of 52.9% to 47.1%, on a turnout of 57.3% (32,932 of 57,502 eligible voters). Strike action scheduled for 15 to 19 June 2026 had already been suspended to allow the vote.

This followed a bruising sequence. The RDC rejected a March 2026 offer and staged a six-day walkout from 7 to 13 April 2026. The June package, presented to members neutrally by the RDC rather than with a recommendation, was materially different from the one rejected in March.

The accepted terms, as set out by the Department of Health and Social Care, include:

An average 6.6% uplift delivered by April 2027, combining the 3.5% DDRB award backdated to April 2026 with a further 3.1% over the following ten months.
Larger rises at the bottom of the scale: 6.2% for FY1 doctors and 7.1% for FY2. FY1 basic pay moves from £38,831 to £41,226.
Up to 4,500 additional specialty training posts over three years, targeting the training bottleneck that has left thousands of doctors stuck in non-training roles.
Reimbursement of the first two Royal College examination attempts from 1 April 2026, with portfolio and membership fees covered from April 2027.
Substantive contracts for locally employed doctors from August 2026, with a standardised contract fully implemented by February 2027.

Health Secretary James Murray said on 29 June 2026 that the result was "very good news for resident doctors, patients and the NHS as a whole, allowing us to draw a line under the disruption." The government stressed the package is funded from existing DHSC budgets.

The underreported detail: this is a truce with an expiry date

Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of the BMA Resident Doctors Committee, accompanied the result with a pointed caveat. Resident doctors remain, in his words, "still nearly a fifth behind 2008 levels of pay." He confirmed the BMA is "putting the pay review process on notice" and warned that without sustained progress on both pay and training numbers, further disputes remain possible.

Read that alongside a 47.1% no vote and the picture is clear. Roughly half of the resident doctors who voted did not think the offer was good enough. The next flashpoint is the 2027/28 DDRB round, and the delivery of those 4,500 training posts. Patients should treat 2026 as a year of restored service, not a permanent settlement.

Which NHS services were affected and which were protected

During strike days, English trusts ran a consultant-led model: senior doctors stepped down into rota gaps, and emergency departments, maternity services and cancer pathways were protected while routine outpatient clinics and planned surgery absorbed the cancellations. NHS England set trusts a target of maintaining 95% of normal activity levels during the April 2026 action.

Derogations, the process for recalling striking doctors, were deliberately narrow. NHS England's guidance restricted them to "unexpected and extreme circumstances" and required escalation through the clinical director, trust medical director and regional medical director before national review. They were never a routine tool for filling rotas.

The cumulative cost was substantial. NHS England data shows 171,776 appointments and procedures were lost to industrial action across 2025/26. Those patients did not vanish from the system. They were rebooked, and they are still moving through it now.

How this affects the NHS elective care backlog

Here is the finding that complicates the standard narrative about strikes and waiting lists. NHS England figures published in May 2026 show the elective waiting list in England fell to 7.11 million pathways in March 2026, the lowest in three and a half years, with 65.3% of patients treated within 18 weeks. Waits over a year fell 48% year on year and are down 69% since July 2024. More than 18.6 million treatments were started or completed in twelve months, a record.

The NHS delivered that while absorbing three rounds of strikes. Sir Jim Mackey, NHS England chief executive, said in May 2026: "This is a huge moment for the NHS. Hitting our targets for the first time in years hasn't happened by accident, it's been down to an absolutely enormous effort from NHS staff up and down the country."

The honest reading is that industrial action slowed recovery rather than reversing it, and that the 171,776 lost appointments represent progress deferred. With strikes now over, the summer of 2026 is the first clear run at the backlog in three years. That window matters, and it is why the durability of the settlement is a patient issue, not just a workforce one. For ongoing coverage of NHS performance, see our health articles.

The real-world social impact: who carried the cost

Waiting list statistics obscure who actually waits. Cancelled orthopaedic and ophthalmology clinics fall hardest on older patients, who are over-represented in hip, knee and cataract queues and least able to absorb a six-month delay in mobility or sight. A postponed cataract operation is a year of not driving, not reading and increased falls risk.

The financial burden lands unevenly too. A rescheduled appointment costs a salaried professional an email. For a shift worker or someone on a zero-hours contract, it means arranging unpaid leave twice, paying twice for hospital parking and twice for transport. Carers of chronically ill or elderly relatives face the same doubling of cost and disruption, often without any leave entitlement at all.

Patients in deprived areas typically enter the system later and sicker, so delay compounds harm. When 171,776 appointments are displaced, the burden concentrates on households with the least slack. This is a point our Baba International coverage returns to repeatedly: the same shock produces very different outcomes depending on household income.

How Scotland and Wales diverge

NHS pay is devolved, and the outcomes differ sharply. Resident doctors in Scotland accepted a Scottish Government deal worth £149 million over two years, delivering an average uplift of almost 10% for the current financial year and 9.4% for 2026/27. BMA Scotland reported 97.1% backing on a 62.4% turnout, a decisive result against England's narrow 52.9%.

Scotland has not seen resident doctor strikes on the English scale. In Wales, resident doctors and final year medical students voted to accept a reformed contract, with staged implementation from August 2026. English patients should note that NHS strike news from Scotland or Wales does not apply to their trust.

What to do now: practical steps for patients in England

With no strike dates called, the operating rule is straightforward, but these steps remain worth taking:

Attend every appointment unless your trust contacts you directly. This was the rule during strikes and remains the rule now. Trusts contact patients individually about changes.
Check your contact details are current with your GP practice and each hospital trust. Cancellation notices go to the number and address on file. Update them in the NHS App.
Chase any appointment cancelled between July 2025 and June 2026. If you were displaced by strike action and have not been rebooked, contact the hospital's booking team directly. Do not assume the system has tracked you.
Ask about the Patient Initiated Digital Mutual Aid Service if you face a long wait. Your trust or GP can advise whether treatment is available sooner elsewhere.
Use NHS 111 online or the NHS App first for urgent but non-emergency needs. It assesses and directs you to the right service.
Reserve A&E for genuine emergencies: chest pain, stroke symptoms, severe bleeding, breathing difficulty, loss of consciousness. Use NHS urgent care guidance if unsure.
GP practices operate normally. They were open throughout the strikes and remain your first contact for non-urgent concerns.
If you are a carer, request a note on the record that appointments need advance notice for transport and cover arrangements. Many trusts will accommodate this.

Baba International Editorial Team

Our editorial team specialises in UK and EU personal finance, health policy, and economic analysis. All content is researched using authoritative sources including the ONS, NHS, Bank of England, ECB, and Eurostat.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are resident doctors on strike in England right now?

No. The dispute ended on 29 June 2026 when BMA members voted 52.9% to 47.1% to accept the government's pay and jobs offer. No strike dates are currently called in England. Hospital appointments, planned surgery and A&E are operating to normal timetables.

My appointment was cancelled during a strike. What happens now?

Your trust should rebook you and you keep your original place in the queue: a strike cancellation does not reset your waiting time. If you have not received a new date, contact the hospital booking team directly rather than waiting. Ask specifically whether you were affected by industrial action, as those patients are typically flagged for prioritised rebooking.

Could resident doctors strike again in 2026 or 2027?

It is possible but not currently scheduled. Dr Jack Fletcher, RDC chair, stated that resident doctors remain "nearly a fifth behind 2008 levels of pay" and that the BMA is "putting the pay review process on notice." With 47.1% voting to reject, the next DDRB round and the delivery of the promised 4,500 training posts are the points to watch.

Do NHS strikes in Scotland or Wales affect my English hospital appointment?

No. NHS pay and industrial action are devolved matters. Scottish resident doctors accepted a separate deal worth £149 million over two years with 97.1% support, and Wales has agreed a reformed contract with staged implementation from August 2026. Neither affects services in English trusts.