Doctors in the East say the NHS is in "critical condition" and "patients are being put at risk"
It's as thousands of doctors will be taking part in strike action today
Resident doctors across England will begin five days of strike action today (14th November 2025) in a dispute over pay erosion and the number of training places.
The British Medical Association (BMA) has called on all resident doctors not to begin any shift starting after 6.59 am on Friday, 14 November or before 6.59 am on Wednesday the 19th of November, after talks with the government failed to reach an agreement.
The BMA said the government “knows how to avert strike action” by “setting out a credible path to pay restoration” and “committing to delivering immediate reforms to improve training numbers and training bottlenecks.”
Dr Schnell D’sa, an anaesthetic trainee at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Norfolk and East of England, co-chair of the BMA’s Resident Doctors Committee, said she took on union roles after seeing long-standing problems in hospitals.
“I saw a lot of issues kind of piling up over the years within hospitals when it comes to not only patient care, patient safety and doctor wellbeing as well, that just weren’t getting tackled and weren’t getting better,” she said.
“What I found when I joined the British Medical Association is that it got me a seat at the table with the right people who could make a change, who could listen to the issues and then implement a change. And that’s really what I’m trying to do with my roles, to advocate for doctors and patients so that we can have a safer NHS for everyone.”
‘We will keep holding the government accountable’
Dr D’sa said doctors feel promises made to them by the government “fell through”, leading to further strikes.
“This is why we’re striking again, to get things back on track,” she said. “And we will keep holding the government accountable to the promises made until we get the NHS back on the right tracks, ’cause I believe the doctors are very keen to stand strong, not only for doctors’ wellbeing, but most importantly for us to get back to that good, safe patient care.”
She said meaningful progress in negotiations could have prevented strike action.
“If we are seeing progress being made, then we wouldn’t need to strike,” she said. “If reasonable progress and reasonable discussions are being had, where we are keeping to the promises made and the agreements made, then we would be happy to hold off strikes and to let progress happen.
"The issue that we are seeing is that the government is not willing… to budget or make any further progress on pay or jobs. And what they are offering is not going to make a substantial change to our current situation.”
"Patients don't deserve to be in corridor care with no privacy and no dignity"
Dr D’sa warned that patients are being put at risk, and without bigger steps, patient care will continue to suffer
"The current state of the NHS is putting patient safety at risk for sure, because we are constantly running at minimum staffing levels and we need better staffed rota's, which means we need more jobs and we need better paid doctors so they stay in this country and are valued and are filling those positions...
“We cannot afford to take extremely small steps anymore,” she said. “We need to make big steps in the right direction to improve the NHS due to the critical condition the NHS is in currently.”
She added that the motivation behind the walkout is not only about pay.
“At the heart of doctors walking out and striking, it is for doctors’ pay and jobs,” she said. “But most importantly, it is so that we as doctors can provide good patient care for all patients as they deserve.
"They do not deserve to be in corridor care with no privacy and no dignity, lining up in corridor beds. They do not deserve to have extremely long waiting times in the accident and emergency departments. They deserve good, safe, timely care. And that is what we are trying to accomplish by striking for pay and jobs.”
NHS England- advice to patients
Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS England National Medical Director, said:
“It is frustrating and disappointing that we are facing another round of industrial action at a challenging time for the NHS, with flu cases rising earlier than usual and more staff likely to be absent due to illness.
“Despite this, staff across the NHS are working extremely hard to maintain care and limit disruption.
“The public should continue to come forward for their appointments over the next few days unless they are contacted by the NHS and told otherwise.
“Inevitably, some appointments won’t be able to go ahead as planne,d but we are doing everything possible to keep this to a minimum – and the last round of industrial action showed that, thanks to a strong collective effort, we were able to keep the vast majority of services going for patients.
“In an emergency, the public should still dial 999, and otherwise use 111 online, your local pharmacist or GP.”
Government response
Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said:
“As we enter this needless round of strike action, patients should feel reassured that the NHS is more resilient than ever in minimising disruption. During the last round, we reduced cancellations by 11,000 compared to previous strikes and limited costs by millions. The NHS is aiming to keep 95% of planned care going to reduce the impact on patients.
“Make no mistake, this requires a herculean effort from the entire breadth of staff across the NHS. I cannot thank them enough for all their work throughout the next 5 days to keep the show on the road, showing the meaning of public service.
"But there is no doubt that strikes will cause some disruption for patients and the NHS staff left picking up the pieces. The fault for that lies squarely with the BMA, who refused to put the government's offer to its members. The BMA could have secured more jobs and cut professional costs for resident doctors on top of the 28.9% pay rise they have already have thanks to this government, but they rejected it out of hand.
"I urge resident doctors not to follow the BMA out on strike, come to work to give your patients the care they need, and let's continue rebuilding our NHS."
This latest action will be the 13th round of strikes from resident doctors since March 2023, resulting in 54 days of disruption to NHS services.