Consultants in England to Strike for Two Days in November
Senior hospital doctors in England will walk out on 25 and 26 November, staffing emergency care only, in a dispute over pay and hours. Seventy-six per cent of those voting backed action on a turnout of just over half. The health secretary calls the strike irresponsible; hospital leaders warn patients face pain and inconvenience.
The mandate is the contested ground. Seventy-six per cent of consultants who voted were in favour, but only just over half of eligible union members took part, and because nearly half of consultants are not members the government calculates that roughly one in five of all consultants employed in England voted to strike. The union’s case is that pay has fallen about a quarter in real terms since 2009-10, and that last week’s offer of 2.4% for next year was the last straw after a 5% rise this year. Its co-chairs said ministers had “time-and-time again kicked the can down the road” and that “that road has now run out”. The health secretary said discussions had been “constructive”, so the announcement was “disappointing”, and that striking would “place the health service under even greater pressure”. Pay figures differ by measure rather than by dispute: basic pay runs from £113,500 to £150,500, with an average of about £152,000 once extra payments are counted. Consultants last struck in 2023, for nine days. This time it falls as winter pressures build.