NHS consultants in England, who will take industrial action on Thursday and Friday, have announced a further two strikes next month, blaming another “savage real-terms pay cut”.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said last week’s sub-inflation pay award was derisory, amounting to less than 6%, and had prompted senior doctors to announce the new strike dates. It said that consultants were prepared to be “in this for the long haul” and that more dates would follow.
The BMA says consultants’ take-home pay has fallen by 35% since 2008-09 and that the government must make an offer that addresses their pay erosion. It also wants a commitment to reform the pay review system and restore its independence from government.
Dr Vishal Sharma, the BMA consultants’ committee chair, said the offer was insulting, adding: “Consultants have always 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’ve had our pay cut year after year, put our lives on the line during a pandemic and now are managing a record backlog of care.
“The prime minister says cutting these waiting lists is a priority but then undermines his own policy by showing he doesn’t value those charged with delivering it. Cutting pay [in real terms] once again shows the government’s complete disregard for the profession.”
NHS bosses fear that the strike by consultants – the first in 50 years – will lead to even more treatments being postponed than the 49,000 a day as a result of the junior doctors’ action, which runs until 7am on Tuesday. The backlog has risen from 7.2 million, when Rishi Sunak first made his pledge to bring down waiting lists, to almost 7.4 million.
Sharma said, given successive real-terms pay cuts over the past 15 years, the latest proposed rise for consultants could offer “no better demonstration of the need to reform the pay review system”.
He added: “This ‘final offer’ and flat refusal to engage in further talks has left us with no option but to continue our action … The future of the NHS depends on there being consultants within it, but attacks on their pay will drive them away – from the health service and from the country – with devastating consequences.”
The BMA consultants’ committee previously indicated it would accept the same above-inflation pay deal – a 12.4% rise – offered to junior doctors in Scotland.
As on Thursday and Friday, next month’s strikes will be based on Christmas Day levels of cover, meaning emergency care will still be provided.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the pay rise for consultants was “fair and reasonable” and that it had also increased their tax-free pensions savings to £60,000 a year.
“We’ve made it clear this pay award is not up for negotiation and it’s disappointing the BMA are continuing with disruptive industrial action,” they said. “We urge consultants in dispute with the government to end their strikes immediately.”
