Responding to the news that BMA’s junior doctor members working in England have voted in favour of industrial action, Andrew Wilson, chair of BMA’s Northern Ireland junior doctors committee (NIJDC), said: “Such an overwhelming majority vote in favour of industrial action is a reflection the strength of feeling among junior doctors in England. No decision to strike is ever taken lightly and this result tells us they had no other choice but to vote in favour of it.
“Junior doctors in Northern Ireland work under a different contract to those employed in England, however we face the very same workplace pressures as our colleagues across the whole of the UK, and we are also without a functioning Executive to deliver much-needed change across the health service.
“Although there are currently no plans to ballot for industrial action in Northern Ireland, continuing workforce pressures and poor working conditions have meant that morale amongst junior doctors here is at an all-time low with many considering leaving employment with the health service in Northern Ireland. To decide on what our next steps will be, we are assessing the pay and contractual landscape here, and are actively engaging with junior doctors here to get their views on what they want to change.”
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