Tensions between the Government and NHS resident doctors are set to escalate as a fresh five-day strike looms next week — and a new Express.co.uk poll is asking whether the medics deserve the 29% pay rise they are demanding.

Talks are due to take place on Thursday between Health Secretary Wes Streeting and the British Medical Association’s (BMA) Resident Doctors Committee (RDC) in a last-minute attempt to avert the walkout, which is scheduled to begin on July 25.

Resident doctors — formerly known as junior doctors — say a 29.2% increase is needed to reverse more than a decade of “pay erosion” dating back to 2008/09.

However, Mr Streeting has already ruled out reopening the pay deal, telling MPs earlier this week that he does not believe the BMA is acting as a “reasonable trade union partner.” He has instead offered to discuss ways of improving working conditions.

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The Government argues that its existing two-year deal — worth an average of 22.3% — is fair and affordable. That includes a 4% uplift and a £750 payment in 2025/26, which officials say amounts to a 28.9% increase when combined with last year’s settlement.

BMA leaders dispute that figure, arguing it doesn’t account for how far pay has fallen behind inflation over time.

The last round of strikes, which ended in September, cost the NHS an estimated £1.5 billion and saw around 1.5 million appointments, operations and procedures cancelled or delayed. Health chiefs have warned there is no budget left to cover the cost of further disruption.

In a joint statement, RDC co-chairs Dr Ross Nieuwoudt and Dr Melissa Ryan said they hoped to reach a “solution that our members will find acceptable.”