NHS consultants have secured a mandate for industrial action after voting in favour of strike action in an escalating dispute over pay and working conditions.
The ballot, organised by the British Medical Association (BMA), saw 76 per cent of participating consultants back strikes on a turnout of 51.5 per cent. The result gives senior doctors the ability to call industrial action over the next 12 months with relatively short notice.
The dispute centres on demands for higher pay and reduced working hours. The BMA argues that consultant pay has fallen in real terms since 2008 and is calling for further improvements to salaries and contracts.
Critics, however, have accused senior doctors of holding taxpayers and patients to ransom after years of substantial pay increases and previous settlements intended to resolve the dispute.
Health ministers have pointed out that consultants are among the highest-paid public sector employees in the country. The average consultant is expected to earn more than £152,000 this year, while the most experienced consultants can earn considerably more through additional duties and private practice.
The current starting salary for a newly appointed consultant exceeds £113,000, rising through a series of pay increments to more than £150,000 for the most senior consultants in England. In Wales, equivalent salaries can exceed £166,000.
The latest threat of industrial action comes despite consultants agreeing a pay deal with the Government in 2024 worth up to £20,000 a year for some doctors following a previous wave of strikes.
The Conservatives seized on the ballot result to renew calls for tougher restrictions on industrial action in essential public services.
Shadow Health Secretary Stuart Andrew said Labour had failed to stand up to what he described as a “militant” BMA and warned that patients would once again face uncertainty and disruption.
The Conservatives have said they would legislate to ban doctors’ strikes entirely if returned to government, arguing that healthcare workers should be treated in a similar way to police officers, who are prohibited by law from taking industrial action because of their critical public safety role.
The prospect of further NHS strikes is likely to raise concerns among patients, many of whom are still facing lengthy waiting lists following years of disruption caused by industrial action across the health service.
BMA consultants committee co-chairs Dr Helen Neary and Dr Shanu Datta defended the ballot result, saying consultants were no longer willing to tolerate what they described as an erosion of their pay and professional status.
They argued that improving pay and conditions was necessary to retain experienced doctors within the NHS and avoid an exodus of senior clinicians from the profession.
No strike dates have yet been announced, but the union now has the authority to call industrial action if negotiations with the Government fail to produce a settlement.
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Should doctors be treated like police officers, members of the armed forces and other emergency service personnel, who are not permitted to strike?
Or do you believe NHS doctors deserve a further pay rise and should retain the right to take industrial action?
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