NHS Maintains 95% Operations Despite Resident Doctors' Strike

As of November 17th, 2025, the National Health Service (NHS) in England is maintaining 95% of its planned activity despite a strike by resident doctors. The strike, which began on Friday and is set to end on Wednesday, has seen fewer doctors participating compared to previous rounds of industrial action.

According to NHS chief executive Sir James Mackey, there are "some really encouraging early indications" that support for the strike is slipping within the ranks of resident doctors. This comes as Health Secretary Wes Streeting has accused the strikers of "inflicting pain and misery on patients" and holding them "to ransom" by demanding a further 26% pay rise on top of the 28.9% they have already received over the past three years.

Separately, the article also highlights the ongoing strike by specialist health workers who take patients' blood, known as phlebotomists. This strike, which began on March 17th, 2023, has now lasted for 236 consecutive days, making it the longest walkout in NHS history. The phlebotomists are demanding to be placed on a higher pay scale, which their union claims would cost the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust just £60,000 per year - a quarter of the chief executive's annual salary.