Dr Tom DolphinUnion

Biography

Dr Tom Dolphin is a consultant anaesthetist in London and has served as Chair of Council at the British Medical Association (BMA) since June 2025. The BMA is a professional association and registered trade union representing and negotiating on behalf of all doctors in the UK. During his time at the BMA, Dolphin has chaired the Junior (now Resident) Doctors Committee, served as a national contract negotiator for both consultants and resident doctors, and chaired his hospital trust's local negotiating committee. He has been on the BMA Board of Directors since 2024 and has been part of the Trade Dispute Preparedness Group, working on workplace organising and developing the BMA Strike Fund. He is known for arguing that sustained government underpayment of doctors constitutes a real-terms pay cut and for calling on the government to restore doctors' pay and conditions to prevent further industrial action.

References

1. 1.Dr Tom Dolphin elected as new BMA council chair – BMA media centre — Confirms election as BMA Council Chair in June 2025, his role as anaesthetic consultant in London, and BMA council membership since 2012
2. 2.Leadership at the BMA – BMA official page — Confirms current role title, clinical background, history as Junior Doctors Committee chair, national contract negotiator, BMA Board of Directors member since 2024, Trade Dispute Preparedness Group, and founding of Proud@BMA
3. 3.Tom Dolphin elected as BMA council chair – BMA News & Opinion — Confirms election date (25 June 2025), BMA council membership since 2012, and stated priorities on doctors' pay restoration
4. 4.BMA says Government's suggested pay rise for doctors in 2026 is indefensible – BMA media centre — Documents Dr Dolphin's public position as BMA council chair on doctors' pay policy, quoted responding to the Government's DDRB evidence in 2025

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Stated areas of expertise

• Doctor pay and contract negotiation
• NHS workforce and industrial action
• Trade union organising in healthcare
• Resident doctor policy
• Patient safety and NHS standards
• Medical profession advocacy

Notable achievements

• Elected Chair of BMA Council in June 2025, following the BMA's Annual Representative Meeting in Liverpool, becoming the principal executive lead and chair of the BMA's board of directors. Source ↗
• Served as chair of the BMA Junior Doctors Committee from 2010 to 2012, during which he supported the 2012 doctors' strike over pension reforms. Source ↗
• Founded the Proud@BMA network for LGBTQ+ elected BMA members in 2023, serving as its founding co-convenor. Source ↗
• Served as a national contract negotiator for both consultants and resident doctors simultaneously while also chairing his hospital trust's local negotiating committee. Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “morale remained low among NHS staff and there were still high levels of vacancies. The government "will need to explain how fewer staff will be able to deliver more care," he said.”

  chair of the BMA council · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS will die under Reform unless doctors stop striking and work with Labour, says Wes Streeting ↗

• “We are told that there will be dedicated doctors assigned to this service. We're keen to find out where this extra staffing is going to be sourced from. Doctors are already flat out across the NHS and there is little spare capacity to go around.”

  leader of the British Medical Association · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS ‘online hospital’ plan announced to help cut waiting lists in England ↗

• “We would have much preferred the health secretary to contact the BMA privately and directly to seek de-escalation, rather than via the media. Governments do not get to decide their negotiating partners, and not should they”

  BMA's chair of council · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Wes Streeting calls BMA ‘impossible’ and says they made ‘misleading’ claims ↗

• “My political career isn't the relevant thing here. I'm here representing a trade union. Trade unions are a force for good in society. They're about workers coming together to demand fair treatment.”

Source references

1. NHS will die under Reform unless doctors stop striking and work with Labour, says Wes Streetingtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. NHS ‘online hospital’ plan announced to help cut waiting lists in Englandtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
3. Wes Streeting calls BMA ‘impossible’ and says they made ‘misleading’ claimstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
4. BMA chair denies using junior doctors’ strikes to progress political careertheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
5. NHS was ‘on brink of collapse’ during pandemic, Covid inquiry finds

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.bma.org.uk/about-us/about-the-bma/how-we-work/leadership-at-the-bma
• Websitehttps://www.bma.org.uk/bma-media-centre

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.