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NHS consultants to strike next month for two days
NHS consultants in England will strike for two days next month after running out of road in negotiations with the government.
NHS consultants in England will strike for two days next month, between 25 and 27 November, over concerns about working conditions and pay restoration.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said that negotiations with the government had ‘run out of road’. This will be the first time consultants in England have taken industrial action since 2023, and would see consultants providing only Christmas Day level care across the two-day period.
It follows the Government recommending a sub-inflationary pay rise of just 2.4% for all doctors in 2027/28 to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration.
NHS consultants have “had enough”, leading to strike action
BMA consultants committee co-chairs Helen Neary and Shanu Datta said consultants take their responsibilities “incredibly seriously” and striking does not come naturally, but they are hearing loud and clear from the profession that they have had enough.
They added: “Since we entered into dispute over 18 months ago we have engaged in good faith with the Government, proposing practical solutions, but time-and-time again ministers have kicked the can down the road. Unfortunately, that road has now run out, and we have been forced to announce strikes.
“As the most senior and skilled doctors in the NHS, consultants not only provide frontline, life-saving care, but they are central to running and designing services, training and supervising the future workforce and ensuring patients get the best treatment possible. Solving the pressures facing the health service will be impossible without valuing and retaining these doctors. Yet the Government is failing to recognise this, ignoring our concerns around consultants’ wellbeing and workload, and pushing them further away from the NHS.”
Consultants in England have been in dispute with the Government since May 2025, with members delivering a mandate for strike action following a ballot in July this year. The Government now has four weeks to avoid any action.
