Hospital doctors to strike as pay dispute continues

Dr David Farren, chair of BMA's NI consultants committee, said pay was central to recruitment and retention of doctors and hinders the delivery of a sustainable and safe health service."There is palpable anger among our members at continuing sub-inflationary, late pay awards while we work beyond capacity in under-supported services," he said. "This annual uncertainty over when we will receive our pay award reinforces the widespread feeling that we are not valued, and leads to doctors seeking better paid roles elsewhere."He said this impacted service delivery and said it was "unacceptable that our government continues to let this happen".The BMA said if Health Minister Robbie Butler was serious about transforming the health service and addressing the waiting list crisis he needed to value doctors by paying them fairly. They called on the minister to step in resolve the pay dispute with a "credible offer" to avoid more strikes over the festive period and into next year.It comes after the Royal College of Nursing announced on Wednesday that it will ballot its members on industrial action and strike action over pay.The union said the move came after many months of inaction on the pay award.Earlier this year, the NHS pay review body recommended a 3.3% pay increase for staff across all pay bands.While nurses and healthcare workers in England and Wales have received their award, nursing staff in Northern Ireland have not.In a statement the Department of Health said the health minister was clear that the 2026/27 award should be implemented and pay parity with colleagues in NHS England restored as soon as possible.