Junior doctors in Northern Ireland to stage 48-hour walk outs after pay talks break down

Junior doctors in Northern Ireland will stage further strike action over the coming weeks after pay talks with the Department of Health broke down.

Striking junior medics across NI took to the picket lines in March in their first industrial action over pay, affecting hospitals and GP surgeries.

As a result, most scheduled operations and outpatient clinics did not take place across all five health trust areas.

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The British Medical Association says junior doctors have seen a decrease by over 30% in the past 16 years, while workload and stress levels have gone up.

The strike action was called after 97.6% of junior doctors balloted by BMA Northern Ireland voted in favour of industrial action.

The union has called for a commitment to a full pay restoration to 2008 levels.

Two further 48-hour full walk outs will take place from 7am on Wednesday, 22nd May to 7am on Friday, 24th May, and from 7am on Thursday, 6th June to 7am on Saturday, 8th June.

Speaking about the decision, Northern Ireland junior doctor committee (NIJDC) chair, Dr Fiona Griffin, said: “After our 24-hour walk out on 6 March we were invited by the health minister to meet with his officials about our pay asks. We agreed to this in good faith and were hopeful for productive and meaningful discussions.

“Despite some progress on non-pay issues, regrettably there has been no progress at all on our key asks around pay including a commitment to work towards full pay restoration.

“This has left us with no choice but to escalate our strike action.”

Dr Griffin added: “We are very disappointed that we have not been able to make any progress, but we must act on behalf of our members who voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking strike action for full pay restoration.

“Doctors can see their colleagues elsewhere in the UK and in other jurisdictions getting better pay and conditions for less pressurised workloads.

“This, along with years of below inflation or non-existent pay uplifts, the latest of which for the 2023/24 financial year has still yet to be paid, further adds to the reality that the key role junior doctors have in the health service is simply not valued.”

Health Minister Robin Swann has claimed an additional £500 million he was allocated in the budget agreed by the Stormont Executive last week falls well short of what is required to maintain health service provision at current levels.

He voted against the spending plan and has refused to rule out resigning if the budget is approved by the Assembly in its current form.

The minister had bid for an additional £1 billion – an amount that represented the entirety of the uncommitted funding available for distribution among all Stormont departments.

The £1 billion comprised £300 million to maintain a pay award made to health staff at the end of the last financial year as part of the Government’s financial package to restore powersharing. It also included £150 million to make a further 3% pay award to staff in this financial year. The remaining requested £550 million was described as for inescapable pressures.

Mr Swann had told Executive colleagues he was prepared to accept an additional £800 million in the budget and would look to make up the £200 million shortfall on the £1 billion with in-year reallocations from central funds and potential cost-saving steps such as limiting the 2024/25 pay award to 2%.

However, he said the £500 million he has been allocated by the Executive is unsustainable and will have serious consequences for health service delivery in Northern Ireland.

Speaking about health minister’s concerns that health staff pay uplifts may now be in jeopardy due to budget constraints, Dr Griffin said: “The levels of discontent among doctors about pay is now so palpable that our consultant colleagues plan to ballot members for industrial action, and a recent indicative ballot of SAS members returned a yes vote for the same course of action.

“The health service cannot function without doctors and they are leaving in growing numbers due to decreasing morale from poor pay and high workloads.

“We have been left with no choice but to take action. If our government wants the health service to survive and retain doctors, then it must act now and prioritise staff pay. Nothing less than a commitment to full pay restoration to 2008 levels will only address this.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: "The Minister is disappointed at the decision of the BMA Junior Doctor Committee. Strike action at this time will have a significant impact on service delivery and exacerbate the challenges facing Health and Social Care.

"The Department and Minister remain fully committed to negotiations and have consistently been open to and available for engagement with the BMA. Officials have engaged with the BMA over recent weeks and have had productive discussions on a number of issues including contract reform and non-pay issues.

"The Department has been clear throughout these discussions, contract reform is the only route to address the concerns of junior doctors and to make concrete progress on pay. Contract reform offers the real prospect of improvements both to terms and conditions and to basic pay and the additionality sought by Junior Doctors. Further industrial action will not advance the situation in Northern Ireland.

"The Minister will continue to make the case for greater resources for health, including proper remuneration for staff. The outlook for the year ahead is extremely challenging, should the proposed Departmental allocations outlined last week be confirmed."

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