Consultants in England set to strike Nov. 25 and 26 over pay and workload, BMA says

Consultants in England will walk out for two days next month, the British Medical Association announced today, Oct. 26.

The strike begins at 06:59 GMT on Nov. 25 and runs through Nov. 26. Hospitals will provide emergency cover only, staffed along the lines of Christmas Day.

It would be the first consultant strike in England since 2023, when senior doctors staged walkouts between July and October.

The mandate and the dispute

The action rests on a ballot in which 76% of participating consultants voted yes. Turnout was just over 50%. The mandate dates from July.

The BMA says the dispute with the government is now more than 18 months old. Following an emergency meeting last week, its consultants committee voted to proceed with strikes.

Consultants were given a 3.5% pay rise for 2026/27. The BMA says that is not enough. It argues consultant pay is still a quarter lower in real terms than 17 years ago.

The announcement came a week after the government recommended a 2.4% pay rise for doctors for 2027/28 in evidence to the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration. The co-chairs of the BMA consultants committee, Dr Helen Neary and Dr Shanu Datta, said that means "the government is also telling consultants they deserve another pay cut."

What consultants earn

Basic pay for consultants runs from £113,500 a year to £150,500 for the most experienced. Extra payments push average earnings above £150,000 a year, according to figures cited by the BBC.

The BMA also says consultant pay in Ireland can be as much as double that in England.

Workload, not only pay

The union says money is only part of it. Neary and Datta said consultants are "not being given time to dedicate our all to the NHS and patients," with quality and improvement "being traded for the treadmill of target-chasing, driving colleagues to burnout through excessive workloads."

The committee has been in talks with the government on measures to keep consultants in the NHS. They include more protected time for teaching the next generation of doctors. They also include cutting standard hours to bring consultants in line with other NHS staff, and better recognition for the most demanding out-of-hours work.

The government puts a price on one of those asks. It says cutting the consultant working week by five hours would cost between £2 billion and £3 billion.

The government's position

Cooper said the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England "have been in constructive discussions" with the union. She called the strike announcement "disappointing."

She said striking as the NHS prepares for winter would be "irresponsible" and would "place the health service under even greater pressure."

The BMA co-chairs say they have "engaged in good faith with the government, proposing practical solutions, but time and time again ministers have kicked the can down the road." They added: "Unfortunately, that road has now run out and we have been forced to announce strikes."

The two sides disagree on whether talks have been real. The government calls them constructive. The union says they have gone nowhere.

How it could be avoided

The BMA says the strike can be called off if Cooper commits to formal negotiations on consultants' pay and working conditions. The union says the government has four weeks to do so.

The co-chairs said they look forward to hearing from the health secretary on areas the two sides "can work on together to prevent these strikes, end the dispute and restore the role of the consultant in the NHS."

The 2023 precedent

The last round ended in a deal. In late 2023 the government and unions reached a proposed agreement that the BMA described as a 4.95% investment in pay from January 2024. That came on top of the 6% award consultants had already received for 2023/24.

It is not yet clear whether Cooper will offer formal talks before Nov. 25. The pay review body's response to the government's 2.4% recommendation for 2027/28 is also still to come.