Hospital consultants in England to strike for 48 hours from 25 November
The British Medical Association says senior doctors will provide Christmas Day levels of cover only, which is expected to hit planned operations and outpatient clinics. It is the first consultant walkout in England since 2023.
Consultants, the most senior hospital doctors, will walk out across England from 06:59 on Wednesday 25 November until 06:59 on Friday 27 November, the British Medical Association (BMA) announced on Monday.
During the strike consultants will staff services at what is known as Christmas Day cover. Emergency care continues, but much of the routine and planned work that hospitals would normally carry out on a weekday, such as non-urgent operations and outpatient appointments, is likely to be scaled back or rearranged.
How the dispute got here
BMA members voted for industrial action in July. According to the BBC, 76% of consultants who returned a ballot backed strikes, on a turnout of just over half of eligible members. Talks involving the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS Employers and unions have been running since then without agreement, NHS Employers said.
The union's case centres on pay and conditions. It says consultant pay has fallen by around a quarter in real terms over 17 years. It also wants the standard working week cut from 40 hours to 35, better rates for out-of-hours work and more flexibility over when pensions can be drawn.
Consultants received a 3.5% rise this year. For 2027/28, the government has recommended a 2.4% increase for all doctors in its evidence to the independent pay review body, a figure the BMA calls below inflation. Basic consultant pay in England currently runs from £113,500 to £150,500, although many earn more through extra sessions and awards.
The government has argued that the ballot result represents only about one in five of all NHS consultants in England, because close to half are not BMA members. It said discussions with the union had been constructive and described the announcement as disappointing.
Four weeks to find a deal
The BMA has said the walkout could still be called off if the Health Secretary, Yvette Cooper, takes meaningful steps to address its concerns, and that the government has four weeks to do so.
Industrial action is also planned elsewhere in the UK. In Northern Ireland, consultants and specialty doctors are due to strike on 23 and 24 November, and resident doctors on 20 and 21 November. In Scotland, a ballot of consultants and specialty doctors opened on Monday.
England's consultants last went on strike in 2023. A separate long-running dispute with resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, ended earlier this year after more than three years of intermittent walkouts.
