NHS consultants have decided to walk out in protest over lower pay next month.
On July 20 and 21, 86% of British Medical Association (BMA) members supported the walkout.
More than 24,000 consultants in England participated in the election, with a 71% turnout, and 20,741 voting in favour of a strike.
It will happen just a few days after the junior physicians’ five-day strike, which is scheduled to end on the 18th.
BMA consultants committee chair Dr Vishal Sharma said the vote showed how ‘furious’ they were at being repeatedly devalued by the government – and calls for a ‘credible’ pay offer.
The BMA says take-home pay for consultants in England has fallen by 35% since 2008/9.
The industrial action will take the form of ‘Christmas Day cover’, meaning most routine and elective services will be cancelled but full emergency cover will remain in place.
Dr Sharma added: ‘We know consultants don’t take the decision around industrial action lightly, but this vote shows how furious they are at being repeatedly devalued by government.
‘Consultants are not worth a third less than we were 15 years ago and have had enough.
‘Consultants don’t want to have to take industrial action, but have been left with no option in the face of a government that continues to cut our pay year after year.
‘However, it is not too late to avert strike action and the government simply needs to come back to us with a credible offer that we can put to our members.
‘We are simply asking for fairness to ensure there is a pay settlement that begins to reverse the real-terms pay decline we have suffered and a commitment to fully reform the pay review process to ensure it can make truly independent recommendations in the future that take into account historical losses so that we don’t find ourselves in this situation again.
‘But if they refuse, it is with a heavy heart that we will take action next month. We will prioritise patient safety and continue to provide emergency care, in-keeping with the level of services available on Christmas Day.
‘Consultants are the NHS’s most experienced, highly-skilled clinicians, and are responsible not just for providing specialist care patients, but also leading entire services and training the doctors of the future.
‘The government can and must fix consultant pay now and for the future. Failure to do so will lead consultants to leave the NHS and the country, or towards retirement before their time.
‘The loss of this expertise would be devastating for services, patients and the future of the NHS.’
Earlier today the threat of further strikes by Royal College of Nursing (RCN) members ended because a ballot on further industrial action failed to meet the legal threshold.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: ‘We hugely value the work of NHS consultants and it is disappointing the BMA consultants have voted to take strike action.
‘Consultants received a 4.5% pay uplift last financial year, increasing average earnings to around £128,000, and they will benefit from generous changes to pension taxation announced at budget.
‘Strikes are hugely disruptive for patients and put pressure on other NHS staff.
‘We’ve been engaging with the BMA consultants committee on their concerns already and stand ready to open talks again – we urge them to come to the negotiating table rather than proceeding with their proposed strike dates.
‘We urge the BMA to carefully consider the likely impact of any action on patients.’
Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: ‘Trust leaders, staff and patients are dreading industrial action by consultants next month hard on the heels of a five-day strike by junior doctors.
‘A double whammy of consultants resorting to two days of Christmas Day cover and a full walkout by junior doctors days earlier in the longest single strike ever seen in the NHS means disruption for many thousands of patients and yet more pressure on overstretched services. This is a huge risk for the NHS to manage.
‘July will be the eighth consecutive month of industrial action across the NHS.
‘More than 651,000 routine operations and appointments have had to be postponed already since December due to industrial action across the NHS with knock-on delays for many thousands more.
‘We understand how strongly doctors feel – the high turnout in the consultants’ vote shows just how strongly – and why they are striking.
‘Trust leaders will continue to do everything they can to limit disruption and keep patients safe, but that’s getting harder and more expensive with every strike.
‘These strikes don’t have to go ahead. There’s still time for the government and the doctors’ unions to settle their differences and find a way through.
‘The urgency can’t be overstated. Trust leaders want the government and unions to sit down, facilitated by a third party if necessary, to find a way to end strikes.’