Consultants Pause November Strike as Government Agrees to Talks
Hospital consultants in England will not walk out on 25 and 26 November. The strike is paused because the health secretary has agreed to negotiate, but the two sides already disagree on whether pay is on the table.
Eighteen months without a deal
The British Medical Association (BMA) announced the action after 18 months of talks with the government produced no agreement on key issues. Consultants say the real-terms value of their salaries has fallen by 25% since 2009-10. They have also asked for a 10% cut in working hours.
They voted in July to take industrial action. The 48-hour stoppage would have left them providing emergency care only. That would probably have delayed most routine and elective services.
Talks agreed after meetings with Cooper
Yvette Cooper, the health secretary, met the leaders of the BMA consultants committee in recent weeks, after the strike was called last month. She described the talks as constructive and welcomed the decision to call off the action. Negotiations are due to start next week.
NHS leaders welcomed the pause too. Ciarán Devane, chief executive of the NHS Alliance, which represents England's 205 NHS trusts, called it a positive step towards an agreement. He had earlier cautioned that hospitals would have to delay and reschedule operations and outpatient appointments.
The gap over pay
The BMA's co-chairs, Dr Helen Neary and Dr Shanu Dattu, said they had received assurances that there are no constraints on what will be discussed. They said they expect to hear proposals on both pay and working conditions.
The government's side reads differently. Cooper did not mention the demand for action on the 25% erosion in salaries. Sources at the Department of Health and Social Care said the negotiating mandate does not allow for pay increases for consultants in this financial year.
Consultants have already received a 3.5% rise for 2026/27. The department made clear the talks would not lead to more than that. The BMA says pay has still fallen by about a quarter over 17 years.
What the government is weighing
A department source said the secretary of state could not justify more pay for "some of the highest earners at the expense of patient care", when everyone in the country is struggling with the cost of living. Typical earnings for an English consultant, with overtime and merit awards counted in, come to £152,000 a year. That is about £25,000 higher than in 2022.
Cooper said she had a constructive discussion with the committee on reforms. In her account, they could give consultants a bigger say and more room to innovate, and the work continues in the coming weeks. She also pointed to the NHS preparing for a challenging winter.
Source: the Guardian