Resident doctors in Scotland vote to strike in dispute over pay

Resident doctors in Scotland have voted in favour of strike action in a dispute over pay.

BMA Scotland confirmed that resident doctors in the country will strike from 7am Tuesday January 13 to 7am Saturday January 17 2026.

The BMA said the Scottish Government cannot expect to “brazenly renege” on its commitments without being “held to account.”

However, BMA Scotland said it believes it is still possible for a resolution to be found and is calling for the Scottish Government to negotiate further.

A five-week ballot with resident doctors revealed that almost 92% of those who voted were in favour of strike action.

With 5,185 resident doctors in Scotland eligible to vote, turnout out was 58% with a total of 3,008 votes cast.

Dr Chris Smith, chairman of the BMA’s Scottish resident doctors committee, said: “The result of this ballot shows that resident doctors in Scotland are united in anger over the Scottish Government breaking the deal they agreed over pay just two years ago.

“This is not where we wanted to be. However, we have sent a message loud and clear – the Government cannot brazenly renege on its commitments without expecting to be held to account.

“Instead of negotiating with resident doctors to make credible progress towards pay restoration, as they agreed to do, they have imposed a pay uplift that is the lowest average award received by resident doctors anywhere in the UK.

“The deal that the Scottish Government agreed in 2023 was the only reason strike action which we have seen elsewhere in the UK has been avoided. It was working for doctors and the health service.

“By turning their backs on this deal, the Scottish Government is forcing a dispute and knowingly putting the NHS in Scotland at risk of disruptive strike action.

“By some measures this is a real-terms pay cut and even under optimistic forecasts, it will take decades to achieve pay restoration. That is completely unacceptable.

“We are simply asking for the Government to deliver on what they previously promised, an offer which will provide a meaningful, continued and crucially credible step on the path towards addressing the pay erosion which resident doctors have suffered from since 2008.

“If they had kept to their commitment, and the trajectory towards pay restoration, this dispute could have been averted. And there is still time to avoid strikes – BMA Scotland resident doctors remain committed to the deal when it is being upheld in its entirety.

“However, we will not accept and we will not allow the deal we struck to be discarded so carelessly. If we don’t take a stand now when the Government have broken a commitment agreed to in good faith, they will take this as licence to do it again and again, including on issues such as contract negotiations and more training jobs for resident doctors as part of future medical workforce planning.

“This matters not just for doctors, but for patients and for the future of the entire NHS in Scotland, which relies on today’s resident doctors to stay here and become the GPs, specialist doctors and consultants of tomorrow.”

Resident doctors, previously called junior doctors, make up almost half of the medical workforce in Scotland.

A resident doctor can be newly qualified or have up to 10 years’ experience.

Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “I am disappointed that BMA resident doctors have voted to take strike action and I have offered to meet the chair of the BMA residents committee on Monday December 22.

“Resident doctors in Scotland have received a 4.25% pay uplift this year – as part of a two-year deal – the same as accepted by nurses and other NHS staff.

“This means by 2027, we will have delivered a cumulative pay rise of 35% in four years.

“Our top priority for our patients and the workforce is to improve waiting times, access to the NHS and positive outcomes. Industrial action will put all that progress at risk.”