Hospital consultants on six-figure salaries will strike next month, in a move that health leaders have warned marks “uncharted territory” for the NHS.
Up to 24,000 of the country’s most senior doctors will walk out for 48 hours from Thursday, July 20, demanding a pay rise of at least 35 per cent.
The move comes despite the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announcing an end to its strike action on Tuesday.
Last year consultants received an increase of 4.5 per cent, bringing average earnings to £128,000.
The walkouts have been scheduled to take place just after junior doctors conclude their longest period of industrial action, with five days of strikes from 7am on Thursday, July 13 to 7am on Tuesday, July 18.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “This will be a huge blow to the service. Leaders will be putting plans in place to make sure life-saving critical care continues.
“This will be uncharted territory for a post-pandemic NHS.”
The walkouts by consultants will take the form of “Christmas Day cover”, with appointments and routine operations cancelled, and staffing limited to the most urgent and emergency care.
More than 650,000 appointments and operations have already been cancelled as a result of NHS strikes.
Striking junior doctors will abandon accident and emergency and critical care cover, with consultants standing in for them at up to £5,000 a day – a rate recommended by the union.
The move follows a ballot of more than 33,000 consultants by the British Medical Association (BMA), with 86 per cent in favour of industrial action.
It also comes as Britain faces a mounting inflation crisis. Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England, has blamed “unsustainable” pay rises for stoking inflation and has warned that they cannot continue if it is to fall.
‘Unmitigated disaster’
The action by consultants is their first strike since 2012, when they took part in walkouts in protest against planned changes to pensions.
Consultants who are members of the NHS Pension Scheme receive a pension contribution worth 20 per cent of pensionable pay.
In recent years, senior doctors have grown increasingly angry about government changes to pension rules.
The cap on how much savers can amass without being taxed has fallen from £1.8 million in 2012 to £1 million today.
‘Overworked, underpaid’: Junior doctors in London stage strike over salaries
Consultants, who are eligible for bonuses of up to £40,000 on top of salaries, complained that such changes, combined with rules on annual allowances, meant it was not worth their while to work.
In March, Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, said the cap would be scrapped from April 2024 and increased the annual allowance that people can put into their pensions without paying tax from £40,000 to £60,000.
Weeks later, the BMA’s consultants committee delayed the ballot on strike action, with union leaders saying they had held “constructive talks” with Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary.
But talks in April and early May were abandoned after a failure to make progress.
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said the situation was “an unmitigated disaster of the Government’s making”, describing the risk to patients as “intolerable”.
On Tuesday, Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents hospitals, said: “Trust leaders, staff and patients are dreading industrial action by consultants next month hard on the heels of a five-day strike by junior doctors.
“A double whammy of consultants resorting to two days of ‘Christmas Day cover’ – meaning they will provide emergency care but routine work will be paused – and a full walkout by junior doctors days earlier in the longest single strike ever seen in the NHS means disruption for many thousands of patients and yet more pressure on overstretched services.
“This is a huge risk for the NHS to manage.”
Dr Vishal Sharma, BMA consultants committee chairman, said those striking were taking action “with a heavy heart”.
He urged the Government to come forward with a “credible pay offer”, saying that take-home pay for consultants had fallen by 35 per cent over 15 years.
The BMA said it had been “forced” to ballot consultants after talks between its negotiators and the Government broke down.
It comes after The Telegraph revealed days ago that ministers are minded to offer a 6 per cent salary increase for doctors next year – plus an extra £1,000 for junior doctors – in an attempt to end strike action.
Junior doctors are seeking an increase of at least 35 per cent, which the Government says would cost £2 billion. During negotiations, the BMA suggested an increase of 49 per cent over four years.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We hugely value the work of NHS consultants and it is disappointing the BMA consultants have voted to take strike action.
“Consultants received a 4.5 per cent pay uplift last financial year, increasing average earnings to around £128,000, and they will benefit from generous changes to pension taxation announced at budget.
“Strikes are hugely disruptive for patients and put pressure on other NHS staff. We’ve been engaging with the BMA consultants committee on their concerns already and stand ready to open talks again – we urge them to come to the negotiating table rather than proceeding with their proposed strike dates.
“We urge the BMA to carefully consider the likely impact of any action on patients.”
On Tuesday, the RCN announced an end to its strikes after the union failed to reach the threshold for industrial action to go ahead.
The union had balloted its members for a second time, seeking to hold walkouts until Christmas, after they rejected the Government’s pay offer.
While a majority of nurses taking part in the ballot backed strike action, just 43 per cent of members took part – short of the 50 per cent participation required for action.
The situation is particularly embarrassing for Pat Cullen, the RCN’s general secretary, who initially backed the 5 per cent pay offer from the Government before calling for strikes until Christmas after her members rejected it.
The union said that around 84 per cent of those who had voted backed strike action.