Junior doctors in England will go on strike for five days in their long-running pay dispute, triggering a new wave of disruption for the NHS in the week leading up to the general election.
Thousands of patients risk having their care canceled after the British Medical Association announced a strike from 7am on June 27 to 7am on July 2. Voters go to the polls on July 4.
The development will increase pressure on Rishi Sunak, who has been accused of blocking a pay deal, to urgently resolve the row.
In a statement on Wednesday, BMA Doctors Committee co-chairs Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said: “We have made it clear to the government that we would strike unless the discussions ended in a credible pay offer. For more than 18 months we have been asking Rishi Sunak to put forward proposals to restore the pay that junior doctors have lost over the last 15 years – which amounts to more than a quarter in real terms.”
They said that when they started mediating with the government this month, they did so on the assumption that “we had a functioning government that would make an offer soon. It is clear that there will be no offer now. Junior doctors are fed up and have run out of patience.”
Sunak still had the chance to show he cared about the NHS and its workers, Laurenson and Trivedi added. “If he makes such a public commitment during this campaign that is acceptable to the BMA junior doctors committee, then there will be no need for any further strikes.”
Health leaders expressed alarm, warning that the five-day strike would once again jeopardize efforts to tackle the record waiting list and push other services to their limits.
Junior doctors in England voted in March to remain on strike until mid-September. Those belonging to the BMA voted overwhelmingly in favor of further strikes in addition to the 41 days of strikes since March 2023.
They supported another six months of strikes by 98% on a turnout of 62%. There was almost unanimous support – 97% in favor, and only 3% against – for taking action just before a strike, such as refusing overtime, in pursuit of a 35% pay increase.
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They are aiming for a 35% increase as a “full recovery” from the 26% decline in the real value of their salaries since 2008.
