Thousands of doctors in England are to go on strike again this month, in a dispute over pay and job security.

The British Medical Association has announced that resident doctors – formerly known as junior doctors – will begin a five-day strike action that will run from 7am on 17 December until 7am on 22 December.

It is the 14th strike by doctors since March 2023 and follows a similar five-day action last month, which led to warnings that the NHS may have to cut frontline staff and offer fewer appointments and operations if the strikes continue.

The BMA said resident doctors were being driven “away from jobs and to the picket line” because the government was failing to make a “credible offer on jobs or pay”.

Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee, said: “Wit

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