When BMA strikes are planned in August 2023 and how NHS care is affected

Junior doctors across England will begin their fifth round of strike action on Friday, with thousands more appointments and procedures likely to be postponed.

The British Medical Association (BMA) is continuing to campaign for better pay for its members, after branding the public sector pay rise announced by the Government in July insufficient.

Consultant doctors in England will also walk out later this month, and again in September, if the Government continues to “refuse to agree to pay talks”, the BMA said.

When are the junior doctor strikes?

Tens of thousands of junior doctors in England will strike from 7am on Friday 11 August until 7am on Tuesday 15 August.

The strikes begin just nine days after thousands of Foundation Year 1 doctors in England start their in-hospital training.

A significant number of these doctors will have signed up to the union before they start their careers. These medics will be encouraged to take to pickets along with their new colleagues.

This is the fifth time junior doctors have walked out, meaning services have seen more than 450 hours without a third of the medical workforce over the last five months – the equivalent of 19 full days.

NHS performance data out on Thursday is expected to show the worsening impact of the dispute with the overall waiting list for treatment in England expected to have risen again to more than 7.5 million people.

How will the NHS be affected?

To date, roughly 778,000 hospital appointments across the NHS have been disrupted due to strikes, with more than 458,000 staff shifts interrupted.

Previous action by junior doctors saw up to 20,000 staff off per day, and the most recent round of strikes in July saw 102,000 hospital appointments disrupted over five days.

Similar levels of disruption are expected over the next four days. However, after a recent High Court ruling the NHS and other employers can no longer use agency staff to fill in for striking workers, which means some of the cover arrangements used during previous strikes will not be possible. 

The NHS said it will continue to prioritise emergency care during the strikes and that the public should continue to use 999 in life-threatening emergencies, and NHS 111 online for other health concerns.

NHS national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, said: “This latest round of junior doctors strikes will again significantly disrupt services for patients and the additional challenge this time is that organisations are unable to use agency workers to cover staff out on strike. It is also a period of time where NHS staff often take annual leave, so there are already gaps in the workforce.

“We will continue to prioritise emergency care, but it inevitably means that many thousands of appointments will need to be postponed.

“Please continue to use 999 if it is a life-threatening emergency and 111 online for anything non-urgent. GPs and pharmacies are also open and largely unaffected by strikes. If you have an appointment and haven’t been told it’s been postponed, it’s also vital you turn up as normal.

“While NHS staff are doing all they can to manage, there is no doubt that the cumulative impact of strikes increases with each action, as the NHS continues to tackle the biggest backlog in its history.”

Why are junior doctors striking?

Junior doctors were awarded a 6 per cent rise last month, along with an additional consolidated £1,250 increase.

Rishi Sunak said the deal was the “final offer” and that there will be “no more talks on pay”.

However, the BMA has been pushing for a 35 per cent increase, to make up for the face pay rises have been below inflation for the last 15 years.

BMA junior doctors’ committee co-chairs, Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, said in a statement: “It should never have got to the point where we needed to announce a fifth round of strike action.

“Our message today remains the same: act like a responsible government, come to the table to negotiate with us in good faith, and with a credible offer these strikes need not go ahead at all.

“The Prime Minister has told us that talks are over. But it is not for Rishi Sunak to decide that negotiations are over before he has even stepped in the room.

“This dispute will end only at the negotiating table. If the Prime Minister was hoping to demoralise and divide our profession with his actions, he will be disappointed.

“Consultants, along with our specialist and associate specialist colleagues, have covered crucial services during our strikes and those same consultants were also on their own picket lines last week.

“Mutual solidarity has been on display at hospital picket lines up and down the country. This is a profession united in its refusal to accept yet another pay cut.

“Junior doctors are not going anywhere however much Government might wish we would. The facts have not changed: we have lost more than a quarter of our pay in 15 years and we are here to get it back.”

When are the consultant strikes?

NHS consultants in England have revealed they will strike on Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 September if the Government continues to “refuse to agree to pay talks” and present the profession with a credible offer. It comes in addition to action already planned for Thursday 24 and Friday 25 August.

Dr Vishal Sharma, consultant committee chairman at the BMA, called on Health Secretary Steve Barclay to meet the BMA “urgently” to avert the strikes.

They are disputing the 6 per cent pay rise the Government have previously announced, saying consultants’ pay has fallen in real terms by 35 per cent since 2008 due to a series of below-inflation rises.

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However, the Department of Health and Social Care said the pay award is final and urged the BMA to call an end to strikes.

Dr Sharma said the announcement of new dates showed the Government that the consultants were “in this for the long haul”.

He added: “The Prime Minister has blamed the record waiting lists in the NHS on staff taking a stand for their pay and conditions – a claim that has backfired spectacularly.

“Waiting lists were rising steadily due to the Government’s underfunding of the NHS and were at a record high before any industrial action started and even before the pandemic.

“He says that everyone must play their part to bring the waiting list down but his refusal to negotiate a deal that would ensure the NHS can recruit and retain doctors to address the current workforce crisis is the biggest barrier to achieving this.

“No consultant wants to take strike action but unless we take a stand, we risk losing our most experienced doctors, putting the very future of the NHS at risk.”

The September walkouts will consist of “Christmas Day” cover, whereby emergency services will remain in place.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said it was “disappointing” that consultants have announced further strike dates “affecting patients and hampering the efforts to cut NHS waiting lists”.

“We have accepted the independent pay review body recommendations in full, giving consultants a 6 per cent pay rise that will see average basic full-time pay increase by around £6,300 to £111,800 – which in cash terms is above what most in the public and private sectors are receiving,” they said.

“This is on top of the 4.5 per cent rise they received last year and generous changes to pension taxation. This pay award is final and we urge the BMA to call an end to strikes.”