BMA confirms hospital consultants to strike in dispute over pay - when will industrial action take place?

Hospital consultants are set to strike amid a bitter pay dispute after an overwhelming majority of union members backed industrial action, the British Medical Association (BMA) has confirmed.

Around 86% of the 20,000 affected members of the BMA voted in favour of the walkout. The turnout for the ballot was 71%.

The union has said that the strikes will take place on 20 and 21 July if a "credible offer" on pay is not made by the government. According to the BMA, take-home pay for consultants has fallen by 35% since 2008/09.

Consultants are usually the most senior doctors within hospital staff and are responsible for leading specific teams of medical professionals within their department. Patients admitted to hospital will be assigned a consultant, with consultants also taking to do with the ongoing care of patients in their specific field.

The strikes will be covered by tradition Christmas Day cover. This means that routine and elective appointments will be cancelled by emergency cover will remain in place.

Dr Vishal Sharma, BMA consultants committee chair, said: “We know consultants don’t take the decision around industrial action lightly, but this vote shows how furious they are at being repeatedly devalued by Government. Consultants are not worth a third less than we were 15 years ago and have had enough.

“Consultants don’t want to have to take industrial action, but have been left with no option in the face of a Government that continues to cut our pay year after year. However, it is not too late to avert strike action and the Government simply needs to come back to us with a credible offer that we can put to our members.

He continued: “We are simply asking for fairness to ensure that there is a pay settlement that begins to reverse the real-terms pay decline that we have suffered and a commitment to fully reform the pay review process to ensure that it can make truly independent recommendations in the future that take into account historical losses so that we don’t find ourselves in this situation again. But if they refuse, it is with a heavy heart that we will take action next month. We will prioritise patient safety and continue to provide emergency care, in-keeping with the level of services available on Christmas Day.”

The industrial action has been announced as similar action takes place across the industry. Junior doctors are due to strike for five days - the longest in NHS history - concluding only a few days after consultants are set to walk out.

Further action by the Royal College of Nursing has been avoided after the latest round of industrial action ballots failed to meet the 50% turnout threshold, with only 43% of members submitting responses. However, union bosses warned that the ongoing pay dispute was "far from over".

It comes as it was announced that the government is set to publish a new NHS workforce plan later this week. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosted representatives from NHS England, NHS providers and the royal colleges in Downing Street to discuss the plans on Tuesday (27 June), with his official spokesman stating that a "positive meeting" had taken place.