Warning of 'widespread disruption' to health services next week as NI junior doctors stage 48-hour strike

The Department of Health has warned patients of "widespread disruption" to services next week due to industrial action by junior doctors in Northern Ireland.

A two-day strike has been called by the BMA Junior Doctors Committee from 7am on Wednesday 22nd May to 7am on Friday 24th May.

Health officials say significant disruption is expected not only on the two strike days but over following days.

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Junior doctors in Northern Ireland are to 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.

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 next week and from 7am on Thursday, 6th June to 7am on Saturday, 8th June.

In a statement, the Stormont's Department of Health said HSC Trusts will work to mitigate the impact as much as possible and will publish more information next week on affected service areas.

A DoH spokesperson added: "The Department stands ready to continue discussions with the Junior Doctors Committee and does not accept that talks have “collapsed”. There are important issues of substance to be progressed, including reform of the current junior doctor contract in NI.

"The Department has offered a process of independent arbitration, but this has not been taken up to date. When the ballot for industrial action was launched, junior doctors - like the rest of the NI health service staff - had received no pay award for 2023/24.

"That is no longer the case. The 2023/24 recommendations of the national pay review body, the DDRB, have now been implemented in NI. The award will be paid in the June pay run, landing in pay packets next month. For junior doctors in Northern Ireland, it will bring an average pay increase of 9.07%, with those in their first year receiving a 10.68% uplift.

"The Department cannot resolve the BMA demand for pay restoration – for a pay settlement that reverses public sector pay limits over the past decade and more. That’s an issue that has impacted public sector employees across the UK as a result of UK Government policy. It is a national issue that cannot be resolved locally."

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