Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost to the NHS of the resident doctors' strike between 25–30 July, including cover for absent staff, disruption and catch-up work.

The five-day resident doctor strike in July 2025 had an estimated cost to the National Health Service of around £240 million and this is a starting estimate for the planned November strike. The costs were lower than in July 2024 as a result of lower turnout. We continue to update estimates as new data becomes available, in line with receiving business as usual financial data from NHS systems.

The NHS has tried and tested plans in place to minimise disruption and will work with partners to ensure safe care for patients continues to be available and emergency services continue to operate.