Senior Doctors in England Announce November Strike Over Pay Dispute

Senior doctors in England are set to go on strike for two days in November, with the British Medical Association (BMA) announcing the action after deeming the government's proposed 2.4% pay rise an "insult."

The strikes are scheduled to take place from 6:59 AM on November 25 to 6:59 AM on November 27.

In a statement, the BMA indicated that their calls for formal negotiations had gone unanswered. "It is simply not good enough that our repeated calls to enter formal negotiations with a mandate demanding a credible offer have not been acted upon," the group stated.

The consultants committee within the BMA voted "reluctantly but decisively" in favor of strike action following an emergency meeting last week.

The proposed 2.4% pay increase, which the government submitted as evidence to the Pay Review Body (DDRB) in mid-October, would represent the third consecutive below-inflation pay cut for doctors if adopted by the DDRB next year. With the Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation currently at 3.9%, the doctors' group argues that the offer is an "insult to hard working doctors and exhausted consultants."

The BMA also pointed to the "glacial progress" in resolving a dispute that began 18 months ago, asserting that this demonstrates the government is "not taking consultants seriously."