NHS bosses fear fresh resident doctors’ strikes could embolden other staff | Doctors

A looming fresh wave of strikes by resident doctors could encourage other NHS staff including nurses to take industrial action over pay, health service bosses fear.

Resident doctors, formerly junior doctors, in England are threatening to stage stoppages until January in pursuit of their demand for a 29% pay rise, after 90% voted in favour in a ballot on a 55% turnout.

The strikes will bring renewed disruption to the NHS, which has not faced a national strike by any staff since the last of the 11 walkouts by junior doctors ended on 2 July last year, just before Labour won power.

The health secretary, Wes Streeting, and the British Medical Association (BMA) are at loggerheads over the strikes, which NHS chiefs say could lead to hundreds of thousands of appointments and operations being…