Senior doctors open strike ballot

Consultants have opened a formal ballot for industrial action as other branches of practice ramp up their campaigns for fair pay and working conditions.

The ballot opened on 15 May after the Government failed to offer a substantive proposal to fix pay and the pay review process. If it is successful, consultants will offer staffing levels comparable to Christmas Day on strike days.

Consultants have seen an average 35 per cent fall in real-terms take-home pay since 2008/09. If a 10-programmed activity consultant’s pay packet had kept pace with inflation, they would earn £31,000-£42,000 more than they do now –the equivalent of four months’ pay.

The BMA consultants committee wants the Department of Health and Social Care to make an acceptable pay award offer for 2023/24 and reform the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration.

CC deputy chair Mike Henley said: ‘The impact of this pay erosion is hugely significant.’ He noted recent ‘significant improvements to pension taxation’ but said: ‘It is still imperative we fix pay, now and for the future.

‘This can still be fixed – and must be fixed for good, if the Government addresses your concerns, industrial action can still be avoided.’

Meanwhile, consultants in Northern Ireland are to open an indicative ballot on 22 May.

The actions come as junior doctors in England announced a third round of strike action, which is scheduled if the Government fails to make a credible offer the BMA junior doctors committee

RUNSWICK: ‘A real shame it’s taken strike action to get Government to the table’ can take to its members.

Emma Runswick, deputy chair of BMA council, pointed to the Government’s ‘trudging’ pace of negotiations at a Commons select committee evidence session on 9 May.

She told MPs: ‘The dispute could be over tomorrow, with no further strike action. It’s a real shame that it’s taken strike action to get Government to the table on this issue.’

Junior doctors in Scotland are threatening to walk out for 72 hours after 97 per cent voted in favour of taking strike action on pay, from a turnout of more than 71 per cent, in a ballot that closed on 5 May. Negotiations with the Scottish Government are under way.

BMA Scottish junior doctors committee chair Chris Smith said: ‘We are no longer prepared to stand aside, feeling overworked and undervalued.’

Meanwhile, GPs voted to ballot for industrial action in England in the coming months if the Government does not renegotiate ‘disastrous’ contract changes imposed on doctors.

By Ben Ireland