Senior doctors’ strike: NHS consultants in England announce 2 more days of walkout - when are they

NHS consultants in England have announced a fresh wave of strikes in August over an ongoing pay dispute with the government. They were already due to strike on Thursday (July 20) and Friday (July 21) and now they will walk out for two more days - on August 24 and 25.

A trade union for doctors, the British Medical Association (BMA) said the fresh dates were in response to a “derisory” 6 per cent pay rise, which the government described as “fair” and called the new strike dates “disappointing.”

During this week’s strike and the second round of walkout in August, consultants are expected to give "Christmas Day cover," which means emergency care will be provided with a very limited amount of routine work.

Last week, the government announced a 6 per cent pay rise for NHS medics just as junior doctors began their own five-day strike, which is due to end on Tuesday (July 18) . The BMA said the pay award amounted to "another real-terms pay cut".

For consultants, the below-inflation pay rise was "nothing short of insulting", the BMA said, and would actually boost pay by less than 6 per cent once "all elements of pay were considered".

According to the BBC, consultant pay has decreased by 27 per cent since 2008 when RPI inflation is factored in, but according to the BMA, take-home pay has decreased by 35 per cent when tax and pension contributions are considered.

This is largely due to the freezing of income tax thresholds and the introduction of an additional 45 per cent tax rate for the wealthiest earners. In 2022, the average NHS salary for consultants exceeded £126,000, which includes additional pay for additional hours and performance.

Consultants, unlike junior physicians, do not demand full pay restoration all at once. Instead, they want the government to begin at least matching inflationary wage increases. They received a 4.5 per cent rise last year, which was less than half the rate of RPI inflation in the 12 months leading up to March. This year, no formal pay offer has been made.

Dr Vishal Sharma, chair of the BMA consultants committee told the BBC that the strikes were a last resort and that the union had "been left with no choice". He said the government was "devaluing consultants’ expertise" and showing a "lack of regard for the impact this is having on the NHS".

He warned of further strikes after August, saying consultants were "in this for the long haul". More than 85 per cent of BMA members backed walkouts in a previous ballot. He said: "The future of the NHS depends on there being consultants within it, but attacks on their pay will drive them away - from the health service and from the country - with devastating consequences.”