Consultants’ 48-hour strike on 25 November nears as BMA deadline runs
Senior doctors in England will walk out from 06:59 on 25 November to 06:59 on 27 November unless Yvette Cooper intervenes, in the first consultants’ action since 2023. The BMA consultants committee co-chairs, Helen Neary and Shanu Datta, said ministers had “kicked the can down the road” and that “that road has now run out”. Hospitals would provide Christmas Day-level cover for the two days.
The dispute dates from May 2025 and the strike mandate from a July ballot; the dates were set after the government recommended a 2.4% rise for all doctors in 2027/28 to the pay review body, below forecast inflation. The co-chairs said the government had “four weeks to avoid any action taking place” — a window now in its final fortnight. Consultants and SAS doctors in Scotland are being balloted, and Northern Ireland faces consultant strikes on 23–24 November and resident doctors’ action on 20–21 November. With the Bank forecasting inflation near 5%, the pay-review offer is the pressure point.