Senior doctors announce two extra strike days next month and will walk out again ‘in due course’ following ‘insulting’ 6% pay rise

• It follows Rishi Sunak’s announcement that there won’t be more talks on pay 

Senior doctors have announced two extra strike dates next month and will walk out again ‘in due course’ following an ‘insulting’ 6 per cent pay rise.

Consultants – the NHS’s most experienced, highly skilled clinicians – are already striking on Thursday and Friday in a dispute over pay.

Despite earning six-figure salaries and amid warnings of a significant impact on waiting lists, the doctors’ union yesterday announced further strike dates on August 24 and 25. The British Medical Association said they had no choice but to continue industrial action in pursuit of a 35 per cent pay rise.

It follows Rishi Sunak’s announcement that there won’t be more talks on pay increases, with the 6 per cent deal described as ‘final’.

Announcing the dates, Dr Vishal Sharma, the BMA consultants committee chairman, said: ‘The Government has imposed a savage real-terms pay cut on consultants. When inflation is running at more than 11 per cent, this is nothing short of insulting.

Consultants – the NHS’s most experienced, highly skilled clinicians – are already striking on Thursday and Friday in a dispute over pay

…Despite £126,000 salaries 

Consultants are seeking a 35 per cent pay rise, which they say accounts for the real-terms reduction in their take-home pay since 2008.

But Freedom of Information figures reveal 80 per cent of senior doctors earn more than £102,000 a year, while 50 per cent earn more than £126,000.

Meanwhile the top 10 per cent earn over £176,000 – which is more than the PM’s annual salary. The 6 per cent pay increase, announced last week, will mean the average pay of consultants will rise to £127,000 a year, Health Secretary Steve Barclay said.

The award would be worth an average salary increase of £6,300. A senior doctor who retires at 65 could now also expect to receive a pension ‘in excess of £60,000 per year’.

‘Consultants have been clear that industrial action is a last resort but in the face of a Government intent on devaluing consultants’ expertise and their lack of regard for the impact this is having on the NHS, we have been left with no choice.

‘We have therefore announced further strike dates in August and will announce more dates in due course.’ The fresh strike will be based on Christmas Day levels of cover, meaning emergency care will still be provided. 

It comes as the Health Secretary challenged consultants over the decision, pointing to their £127,000 earnings and £60,000-plus annual pension.

Steve Barclay highlighted that consultants already earn a ‘significant amount of money’ and asking for more is ‘out of line… with the earnings of their other NHS colleagues’. 

He wrote in the Sunday Times: ‘To the consultants who are still planning to go on strike this week over pay, despite our pay award and pension reforms, I now speak directly to you.

‘You are an indispensable part of our NHS. I hope you see our decision as fair and reasonable, and call off your strikes.’

So far, at least 650,000 appointments and surgeries have been cancelled during NHS strikes.

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