Asking whether doctors should be able to strike has been one of the most common topical questions at medical school interviews since the resident doctors' disputes began in 2023, and it is usually followed by a second question on how patients should be kept safe if they do. It is a good test because it has no comfortable answer: strikes cancel care now, and the conditions that cause them harm care later. This article goes through why schools ask it, how to structure a balanced answer, and an example of a strong one.
Should doctors be able to strike?
- If doctors do strike, what should be done to keep patients safe?
Why medical schools ask it
You don't need in-depth knowledge of NHS politics at interview. Interviewers want awareness and basic understanding, and a brief, reasoned answer. Strikes are a standard topical question because the dispute has been in the news throughout your application cycle, because it affects the people interviewing you, and because it raises a clear ethical tension between the right to strike and the duty of care, with safe staffing, fairness to patients whose care is delayed, and the long-term health of the workforce all sitting behind it.
Interviewers are also listening for how you talk about the profession you want to join. An answer that sides entirely with doctors sounds like it has not thought about patients; one that sides entirely against sounds like it has not thought about why colleagues felt they had no choice.
What the marking criteria reward
The marking sheet for this station has seven content points, plus the usual mark for how clearly you communicate:
- Shows awareness of context: resident (formerly junior) doctors in England took repeated strike action between 2023 and 2026 over pay and training posts, and doctors in the UK have a legal right to strike
- Fair treatment and basic employment rights, last resort when negotiation fails, protecting recruitment and retention and therefore future patient care
- Cancelled operations and appointments, risk of delayed diagnosis and harm, burden on colleagues covering, loss of public trust, cost to the NHS
- Applies ethical principles, for example non-maleficence and beneficence towards current patients against justice for staff and benefit to future patients
- Refers to professional duties: the GMC accepts doctors may lawfully take industrial action but expects them to take reasonable steps to keep patients safe
- Adequate notice, emergency and urgent cover by senior doctors, agreed exemptions for major incidents, prioritising cancer and urgent cases, prompt rescheduling, and continued negotiation
- Reaches a balanced personal conclusion, for example that strikes should be legal but a last resort, proportionate and planned to minimise harm
The first point is the one that separates candidates. Knowing that resident doctors in England took repeated strike action between 2023 and 2026 over pay and training posts, and that doctors have a legal right to strike, turns an opinion into an informed opinion. The sixth point is the one most applicants forget: the question has a second half about keeping patients safe, and it is worth as much as the argument.
How to structure your answer
For questions about NHS problems the general approach is to set out the situation, say why it matters, give the arguments, link to the ethical pillars, and reflect. The model answer below does that, with the context first and the safety measures as their own section:
1. Context
2. Arguments that doctors should be able to strike
3. Arguments against, or for strict limits
4. Ethical analysis
5. Keeping patients safe during a strike
6. Conclusion
I believe doctors should keep the right to strike, because removing it would weaken their ability to speak up about conditions that ultimately affect patients. But the right carries a heavy responsibility. Strikes should be a last resort, proportionate, and planned so that emergency care is protected. If I were a resident doctor I would want to be sure negotiation had genuinely been exhausted and that safe cover was in place before I took part.
Example answer
A spoken answer to the first question, about ninety seconds. The second question, on safety, is the last part on its own.
- Context
- Doctors in the UK have the same legal right to strike as most workers, and resident doctors in England used it repeatedly between 2023 and 2026, over pay that had fallen in real terms since 2008 and, later, a shortage of training posts. So this isn't hypothetical; the question is really whether that right should have limits.
- For
- I think they should keep the right. Doctors are employees whose pay is set by the same government that employs them, so without the possibility of a strike they would have less bargaining power than almost anyone. And poor pay and conditions harm patients too, just less visibly: rota gaps, burnout, and doctors leaving for Australia or leaving medicine. A strike can be a way of protecting the future workforce.
- Against
- The cost is real, though. More than a million appointments and operations were rescheduled across the recent action, and for some patients that delay meant pain, anxiety or a worse outcome. Colleagues covering were stretched, each strike day cost the NHS tens of millions, and public support fell as the dispute dragged on.
- Ethics
- In the four pillars it is non-maleficence towards today's patients against beneficence towards future ones, with justice on both sides: fair treatment of staff and fair use of NHS money. The GMC's position is that doctors may take lawful industrial action but must take reasonable steps to make sure patients are not put at risk.
- Conclusion
- So my view is that strikes should stay legal but be a genuine last resort, proportionate, and planned around patient safety.
- Safety
- On keeping patients safe: unions have to give formal notice, which lets planned care be moved. Consultants and specialty doctors staff emergency departments, intensive care, maternity and the wards. There should be an agreed way to recall striking doctors for a major incident, cancer and urgent cases should be protected and rebooked first, patients should be told clearly that emergency care continues, and both sides should keep talking, because the safest strike is a short one.
Practise this question out loud
Try answering it with the AI interviewer: it asks the question, follows up on what you say, and marks you against the points above.
Common follow-up questions
Strikes sit inside the wider set of NHS questions, and the follow-up usually moves to the causes: pay, workforce, funding, or what you think the biggest problem facing the NHS is.
What issues currently face the NHS in the 21st century?
Reported at four schools. Workforce, waiting lists, funding, an ageing population and social care. Pick three and go into each.
What is a problem you have read about that the NHS is currently facing?
Reported at three schools. Have one topic ready that you genuinely follow, with a fact or two, rather than a list.
Should doctors have the weekend off?
Asked at Manchester. The seven-day NHS debate: patient benefit and safety against cost, staffing and the evidence on weekend outcomes.
Strikes are a tension between two of them, working together for patients and everyone counts, which makes the values a useful frame.
Would you still want to be a doctor if the most you could ever earn was £25,000 a year?
Sometimes asked after a strikes question to test whether pay is your motive. If your why medicine answer was honest, this one is easy.
Common pitfalls
Things to avoid when answering the question:
- A one-sided answer in either direction.
- No knowledge of the recent disputes.
- Saying "patients will die" or "no one is harmed" without nuance.
- Forgetting the second half: how to make a strike safe.
- Taking it personally :
- You may well have strong views. The station rewards the candidate who can state the other side fairly before giving their own.
- Getting the facts wrong :
- Doctors are not banned from striking, as police officers are, and the dispute was about pay and training posts rather than hours. Small errors here undermine the whole answer.
Which schools ask it
This question is not tied to one particular school, because it comes up almost anywhere there is a topical or current-affairs station. Schools that ask broader NHS-challenge questions include Birmingham, Bristol, Imperial, Manchester and UCLan.
Frequently asked questions
Can doctors legally strike in the UK?
Yes. Doctors have the same right to strike as most workers, provided their union holds a lawful ballot and gives notice. The groups barred by law are the police, prison officers and the armed forces, not doctors.
What does the GMC say about strikes?
That doctors are entitled to take lawful industrial action, and that they should take reasonable steps to make sure arrangements are in place so that patients are not put at risk. It does not tell doctors whether to strike.
Do I need to know the details of the recent disputes?
The outline is enough: resident doctors in England took strike action in 2023 and 2024 over pay, which ended with a deal in 2024, and again from 2025 over pay and a shortage of training posts. Check the current position in the week before your interview, since it may have moved.