“A deal is there to be done,” said Dr Jack Fletcher, chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee, after members voted to renew their strike mandate for another six months. The ballot saw 93% backing on a 53% turnout, with no new walkout dates yet announced, according to PA/Guardian reporting on Monday. (theguardian.com)

Pickets have become a familiar sight outside hospitals from Liverpool to Leeds. A recent image from Royal Liverpool University Hospital captured the mood: determined but weary staff arguing for a path out of a dispute now entering its third calendar year. The committee says recent talks with ministers have improved in tone, but warns patience is thin. (theguardian.com)

For patients in the North, the timing matters. NHS England data shows the North East and Yorkshire delivered the strongest regional performance on the 18‑week standard last spring, yet it still fell well short of the 92% target. The picture remains uneven, and trusts across Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and the North East are juggling recovery plans with winter pressures. (instituteforgovernment.org.uk)

The backlog bears down hardest in places already hit by poor health and deprivation. New figures compiled by PA from NHS England show Blackpool Teaching Hospitals had a higher share of year‑long waits among patients from the most deprived communities than from the least. Across the North West, the rate of 52‑week waits is higher in deprived areas too, underlining a gap that residents feel at GP desks and bus stops alike. (uk.news.yahoo.com)

Scale is part of the problem. The Department of Health and Social Care’s own North West briefings put the regional waiting list at more than one million people, with tens of thousands waiting over a year. Local leaders say staff have kept elective work moving, but that momentum is fragile when rotas are stretched and winter A&E attendances hit records. (gov.uk)

Training is the pressure point doctors keep returning to. Government papers acknowledge more than 30,000 applicants chased around 10,000 specialty training posts in 2025, with competition ratios up 150% on 2019. The Royal College of Physicians says internal medicine training this year drew 8,841 applications for 1,678 posts – a ratio of 5.27 – leaving thousands stuck in limbo between foundation and a registrar job. Ministers have floated measures to prioritise UK graduates and previously talked up adding more posts, but medical leaders say the North needs guaranteed numbers on the ground, not headline figures. (gov.uk)

Strike disruption has eased compared with 2024, yet it still hurts. NHS England says nearly 1.5 million appointments have been rescheduled since late 2022; the July 2025 walkout alone led to 54,095 cancellations, even as trusts kept more clinics running. “The NHS remained open for those who needed it,” said NHS chief executive Sir James Mackey, while warning that every strike forces teams to divert effort from cutting the backlog. (england.nhs.uk)

On pay, the government points to a cumulative 28.9% rise for resident doctors over the past three years, with the 2025/26 award backdated to April 2025. But ministers’ suggested 2.5% uplift from April this year has been branded “indefensible” by the BMA, given inflation and living costs. The union argues doctors’ pay is still around a fifth lower than in 2008 after inflation, a claim contested by analysts. (gov.uk)

Independent work by the Nuffield Trust puts real‑terms earnings for resident doctors at 4–10% below 2010–11 levels even after recent rises, while The Guardian’s analysis notes the BMA’s larger estimate reflects use of RPI rather than CPI. The argument over which yardstick to use won’t matter to patients waiting for surgery in Barnsley or Bolton – what matters is whether a deal lands fast enough to stabilise services. (bmj.com)

Elsewhere, there are signs that compromise can avert stoppages. In Scotland, planned action was suspended after ministers tabled a fresh, two‑year package of pay and contract reform that BMA Scotland has recommended to members. England’s talks continue; for trusts across the North, clarity on pay and concrete training numbers can’t come soon enough. (gov.scot)