Consultants in England vote in favour of NHS strikes

Consultants across England have voted in favour of NHS strike action in the future over pay and pensions.

In a ballot, 76% of the senior doctors who are members of the British Medical Association (BMA) said they would be willing to take industrial action, meaning they now have a mandate for strike action over the next 12 months.

It comes after resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, accepted a pay deal with the government to end three years of strikes.

Patients have seen hundreds of thousands of appointments cancelled due to industrial action over the past few years.

The BMA says no strikes need to take place if the government addresses the issues that include an "end to pay erosion" that it says is also affecting pensions.

Of 35,067 eligible members, 18,069 (51.53%) voted, with 13,695 voting in favour of potential strike action.

Dr Helen Neary and Dr Shanu Datta, co-chairs of the BMA consultants committee, said: "This is a clear message from consultants in England that they are not willing to tolerate the continued attack on their pay and professional value, and that, if necessary, they are willing to act."

Health and Social Care Secretary James Murray said there was "no justification" for strikes given consultants are some of the highest paid public sector staff, and among the top 2% of earners in the country.

"After a 28.5% increase in basic starting pay over the last four years and with the average consultant now earning over £152,000 a year, there is simply no justification for strikes that will cause disruption to patients and the NHS," he said.

"Consultants are an invaluable part of the NHS workforce, and we have been working closely with them to improve job planning and modernise their contracts. Strikes would only get in the way of this important work.

"I urge the BMA and all consultants not to rush into another cycle of unnecessary and disruptive industrial action."

The BMA says average pay is still 26% lower in real terms than it was 17 years ago and that the final pay point of a consultant in England is £16,000 lower than that of colleagues in Wales.

The NHS in England became quite adept at managing services on strike days and minimising disruption, redeploying senior doctors to cover resident doctors.

But if consultants decide to go ahead with strikes, it will create new challenges for hospital managers.

Consultants will continue to work in emergency and urgent care. But a walkout will mean that potentially large numbers of appointments and operations requiring senior doctors will not take place.

Hospitals will quickly need to find new ways of working - just when they thought that it was all quiet on the industrial relations front.

Consultants in England last walked out between July and October 2023 in strikes which were co-ordinated to coincide with those of resident doctors.

Consultants and specialist doctors in Northern Ireland though have been striking over pay in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, a ballot of specialist, associate specialist and specialty (SAS) doctors in England missed the legal turnout threshold.

Some 2,738 SAS doctors voted, a turnout of 43%.

However, the BMA said that of those who did take part in the ballot, 90% voted in favour of strikes.