Senior NHS doctors in England vote to strike as nurses call off planned industrial action
Senior NHS doctors have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action next month while strikes by nurses, which their union had warned would run until Christmas, are over. For this year at least. ITV News Correspondent Rachel Younger has the latest
Hospital consultants will strike on July 20 and 21 after voting overwhelmingly in favour in a dispute over pay, the British Medical Association (BMA) have announced.
More than 24,000 members of the BMA backed industrial action by 86% on a turnout of 71%, well above the legal threshold of 50%.
The BMA said that unless the government makes a “credible offer” which can be put to its members, they will take part in industrial action on July 20 and 21 – just days after a five-day strike by junior doctors in England.
It will mark the eight consecutive month that NHS staff have walked-out over pay and conditions.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting called the announcement an "unmitigated disaster of the government's making."
He said: "Rishi Sunak cannot continue to sit back like a passive observer and let this go ahead. He must now get the doctors in for immediate negotiations to bring these strikes to an end."
Consultants’ industrial action will take the form of Christmas Day cover, meaning that most routine and elective services will be cancelled but full emergency cover will remain in place.
Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “Trust leaders, staff and patients are dreading industrial action by consultants next month hard on the heels of a five-day strike by junior doctors.
“These strikes don’t have to go ahead. There’s still time for the government and the doctors’ unions to settle their differences and find a way through.
“The urgency can’t be overstated. Trust leaders want the government and unions to sit down, facilitated by a third party if necessary, to find a way to end strikes.”
The BMA said it announced its planned dates for industrial action six weeks before the potential action so that consultants and their colleagues were able to put in early plans to manage patient lists and prioritise urgent patient care in the event of a successful ballot.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We hugely value the work of NHS consultants and it is disappointing the BMA consultants have voted to take strike action. Consultants received a 4.5% pay uplift last financial year, increasing average earnings to around £128,000, and they will benefit from generous changes to pension taxation announced at budget.
“Strikes are hugely disruptive for patients and put pressure on other NHS staff. We’ve been engaging with the BMA consultants committee on their concerns already and stand ready to open talks again – we urge them to come to the negotiating table rather than proceeding with their proposed strike dates.
“We urge the BMA to carefully consider the likely impact of any action on patients.”It comes just hours after the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said nurses will not strike as a ballot on whether they want to stage a walk out did not reach the legal threshold.
The turnout for the statutory strike ballot was 43.4%, which is lower than the mandatory 50% threshold needed to be able to take industrial action under the 2016 Trade Union Act.
The union said it will continue to put pressure on the government to deliver fair pay for nurses in the NHS in England, despite the low number of voters.
In the ballot, more than 100,000 RCN members voted in favour of strike action – around 84% of the total number of people who voted.
The RCN said approximately 140,000 ballot papers needed to be returned in the post to meet the threshold and only 122,000 were received by the closing date of Friday June 23.
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen is to visit Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday afternoon.
She said in an email to union members: “While the vast majority of members who returned their ballot papers voted in favour of strike action, we did not meet the 50% turnout threshold necessary for us to be able to take further strike action.
“While this will be disappointing for many of you, the fight for the fair pay and safe staffing that our profession, our patients, and our NHS deserves, is far from over."
She added: “I know staff morale is low and the staffing crisis is set to worsen without immediate action. I will be telling him this today.
“We have started something special - the voice of nursing has never been stronger and we’re going to keep using it.”
Earlier in 2023 RCN members voted to reject the latest pay offer from government with 54% of eligible members urging the government to return to the negotiating table.
Staff eligible for the Agenda for Change contract - which includes nurses, paramedics, 999 call handlers, midwives, security guards, and cleaners - will receive a 5% pay rise that will be backdated from April.
As part of the deal, NHS staff will also receive a one-off payment for last year. They will also be given a NHS backlog bonus for this year, which will be worth between £1,250 and £1,600.
But Unite members and those in the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) rejected it.
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