Hospital consultants begin two days of strikes - and announce further dates in October

Consultants across England today (Thursday) begin two more days of industrial action, and have announced further strike dates in October, demonstrating their commitment to ensuring the Government acts to fix consultant pay in order to retain the NHS’s most experienced clinicians.

This week’s strikes start at 7am today and end at 7am on Saturday, and consultants are also set to take more strike action on September 19 and 20.

In the absence of any progress in discussions with Government, they will now also strike on October 2, 3 and 4 - the longest period of action by consultants so far.

The BMA’s consultants committee is announcing the action well in advance to give colleagues and employers plenty of notice, and as with this week’s and previous strikes, consultants will provide Christmas Day cover, meaning emergency services will continue to run.

Consultants insist they have seen their take-home pay fall by more than a third since 2008/09, and the BMA’s consultants committee is urging the Government to present a credible offer that puts an end to these pay cuts and commits to reforming the pay review body process so that it can be truly independent in reviewing consultant pay and begin addressing these historic losses.

Dr Vishal Sharma, BMA consultants committee chair, said: “No consultant wants to be striking so we head out to picket lines today with heavy hearts.

"We would much rather be inside the hospital seeing our patients.

"But we cannot sit by and watch passively as we are persistently devalued, undermined and forced to watch colleagues leave – much to the detriment of the NHS and patients.

“First the Prime Minister blamed COVID and now he attempts to scapegoat doctors for his failure to bring down waiting lists.

"The reality, however, is that we had record waiting lists before the pandemic and before any periods of industrial action, and they were due to the Government’s failure to properly invest in the NHS and its staff.

"The waiting lists can only be brought down by recruiting and retaining doctors.

"This starts with valuing them properly – not by subjecting them to further real-terms pay cuts, as the Government did last month.

“By refusing to talk to us – and it’s now been 150 days since the Health Secretary met with us – it just shows that the Government is not serious about the NHS, its workforce or patients.

“Our message to the Prime Minister is that we are serious about protecting the consultant workforce and thereby the NHS and patients.

"We are striking today, and will do so again in September and October, but the Prime Minister has the power to avert any action at all, by getting around the table and presenting us with a credible offer.

“As Government ministers gather in Manchester in the first week of October wouldn’t Mr Sunak like to be able to tell his colleagues and the public that he has resolved this dispute by offering consultants a deal that truly values the work we do, rather than apologising and making excuses for why he’s forced us out on strike once more?

“Consultants are clear that they’re prepared to take regular action and politicians must be left in no doubt that our dispute will not go away simply because they refuse to negotiate.

"We will not be ignored.”

NHS leaders across the North West, meanwhile, are urging the public to access services wisely, as the health service faces further disruption to routine care due to another period of industrial action this week, followed by the always busy August bank holiday, with pressures compounded by the summer holiday period.

The NHS in the North West is urging people to plan ahead, as this will mean people are less likely to need help this weekend, and remember to use www.111.nhs.uk to get the quickest help if they are injured or unwell and need urgent but not emergency advice.

Dr Michael Gregory, Regional Medical Director for NHS England - North West, said: “The consultant strikes will affect almost all routine care, across our region and place additional pressure on our urgent and emergency care services.  

“The strikes, followed by the bank holiday, which often leads to a rise in demand for services, will mean that many of our services will be stretched, so its really important for everybody to be careful and use NHS services wisely."

---

Do you have a story for us? Want to tell us about something going on in and around Oldham? Let us know by emailing news@oldham-chronicle.co.uk , calling our Oldham-based newsroom on 0161 633 2121 , tweeting us @oldhamchronicle or messaging us through our Facebook page. All contact will be treated in confidence.