Junior doctors in Northern Ireland strike over pay

Junior doctors in Northern Ireland are to begin a 24-hour strike for the first time in a dispute over pay later.

Of those balloted, 97.6% voted in favour of going on strike, with a a 63.7% turnout, the British Medical Association (BMA) said.

The BMA said it showed junior doctors felt they had no other choice.

Northern Ireland's Department of Health (DoH) has said there will be "significant disruption" to patient care.

The DoH said it was committed to negotiations with the BMA junior doctors committee which "offers the best prospect of deescalating the situation".

Unlike their English counterparts, junior doctors in Northern Ireland are striking for just one day.

The walkout will last from 08:00 GMT on Wednesday until 08:00 Thursday.

For Northern Ireland doctors, this is a first. They are striking over pay.

One junior doctor told BBC News NI this week's planned strike action was "a last resort" by colleagues who were facing a "workforce crisis".

Dr Marcus Hollyer said doctors felt they had been left with "no choice" as he and others considered leaving Northern Ireland to work in areas with higher pay.

The BMA said junior doctors salaries in NI fell by 30% over the past 15 years.

Dr Fiona Griffin, chairwoman of BMA junior doctors committee in Northern Ireland, said it should come as "no surprise" that doctors were considering leaving to work in other countries where she said "complex and skilled work we undertake is properly rewarded".

"We are no longer going to put up with unacceptable pay and conditions; they are causing an acute workforce crisis that is not being taken seriously", she said.

Dr Griffin said there had been a "lack of meaningful engagement" from DoH health officials and the health minister with regards to pay negotiations.

"Nothing less than an immediate, above inflation pay award and a commitment to full pay restoration to 2008 levels will only address this," she said.

"Otherwise the vicious cycle of staffing shortages and worsening patient care will only continue.

"The future of our profession and our health service depends on this issue being addressed urgently and we are willing to get around the negotiating table at any time to achieve this."

However, this does not take into account weekend or out-of-hours work.

A pay rise offered to doctors - if accepted - would bring the base salary up to at least £29,000.

So far doctors have rejected this offer.

Speaking in February in the Northern Ireland Assembly, Health Minister Robin Swann said: "Like-for-like comparisons between junior doctor pay in NI and England are not straightforward, due to the fact that different contractual arrangements are in place in the two jurisdictions".

"Locally, our current contract offers a lower basic salary with higher variable supplements for working out of hours or at weekends.

"In contrast, the English contract introduced a higher basic pay and lower variable rates. Under their current contract, junior doctors in Northern Ireland receive allowances ranging from an additional 20%-100% of basic pay depending on their rota."

He told assembly members that any demand to remedy below inflation pay increases over the past was "beyond the reach of the NI Executive and assembly" and was a national issue.

He said he would "question what industrial action in a NI context can hope to achieve".

Senior medical staff will work to cover the roles normally undertaken by junior doctors.

The DoH said because of this there would be "substantial disruption to planned hospital activity" on the strike day and as services recovered.

Most planned operations and outpatient clinics across all five regional health trusts will not take place.

The focus will be on "maintaining safe services for acutely unwell patients" and that most surgical procedures carried out will be in case of emergencies.

Patients and other service users are advised to check HSC Trust websites for further information.

The DoH said industrial action would "cause significant disruption to patient care.

It said it was committed "to further engagement with the BMA junior doctors committee on pay, contract reform and other issues," and that this offered the best prospect of "deescalating the situation".

A spokesman added that in line with independent pay body recommendations, junior doctors in NI had been offered an average pay increase of 9.1% for 2023/24 with those in their first year receiving a 10.7% uplift.

He said the award would be backdated to April 2023 and should be "viewed in the context of pay settlements across the wider NI public sector".

However, he added that in relation to 2023-24 pay, the department could only implement the recommendations of independent pay review bodies or mirror pay settlements in England.

"This approach is being applied to all health service staffing groups. It is not possible to make exceptions," he added.

He said there were grounds for productive negotiations with the BMA junior doctors committee.

This is includes 2024-25 junior doctor pay, potentially reforming the current junior contract in Northern Ireland, and addressing areas of concern on working conditions and other non-pay issues.