Striking resident doctors face heckling and support on picket line, amid mixed public response

Resident doctors joined picket lines across England this morning (25 July) to mark the start of their five day strike over pay, after talks with the government failed earlier this week.

Although most of the striking medics enjoyed public support in the form of cheers and honking from car and bus horns, others were heckled.

At a picket line in Birmingham a member of the public shouted that striking medics were a “disgrace” and should “get back to work,” adding, “You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

Despite this, doctors were undeterred. Peter Fahey, chair of the BMA’s West Midlands regional Resident Doctors Committee—speaking to The BMJ at the time of the heckling—said, “I think a lot of the public are with us.

“They believe that doctors do deserve to be paid reasonably for the job that they do. They see the doctors coming in at 3 am in the morning to tend to their loved one, and I think they would think it was reasonable to be paid more than £18 an hour to do that.”

At protests in London dozens of doctors gathered outside St Thomas’ Hospital, just across the Thames from the Houses of Parliament, chanting for pay restoration and safe staffing.

Some waved placards reading “Why is a doctors’ assistant paid more than me?” and quoting health secretary Wes Streeting’s comment while in opposition in 2022 when he said, “The power to stop these strikes lies squarely with the government.”

Speaking to The BMJ outside the hospital (video 1), Melissa Ryan, co-chair of the BMA’s Resident Doctors Committee, said, “We’re here because resident doctors have seen their pay eroded by 21% since 2008.

“All we’re asking is for first year doctors to …