Hospital doctors in Northern Ireland have announced fresh strike dates in November amid the government's ongoing failure to address years of pay erosion.

Resident doctors will hold a full, 24-hour walk-out starting at 7am on Friday, 20 November, until 7am on Saturday, 21 November. Consultants and SAS doctors* will then take action in the form of 24 hours of Christmas day cover** from 7am on Monday, 23 November, until 7am Tuesday, 24 November.

BMA Northern Ireland’s doctors’ leaders have also warned that they are prepared to escalate their action if progress is not made in addressing pay erosion which has seen doctors pay drop from upwards of 26% over the past 18 years due to below inflation pay awards.

The three branches of hospital doctors took strike action in June after overwhelming yes votes for industrial action. Speaking about the new strike dates, Dr Clodagh Corrigan, chair of BMA’s Northern Ireland SAS committee, said: “We have been clear: to avoid further industrial action we need a credible offer from government that makes meaningful progress towards full pay restoration.

“We met with the new Health minister recently, hopeful that we could begin fresh discussions on agreeing a credible pay offer. Regrettably, this did not happen. The Minister was also unable to confirm if the minimum annual pay uplift for 2026/27 – one that has already been paid to doctors elsewhere in the UK - would be paid this side of Christmas, or indeed at all. We were informed that the decision ultimately lay with the Executive.

“Therefore, we have been left with no alternative but to announce more dates for industrial action and we are fully prepared to escalate action if no progress is made.”

Dr David Farren, chair of BMA’s Northern Ireland consultants committee chair, said: “Pay is central to recruitment and retention of doctors and hinders the delivery of a sustainable and safe health service.

“There is palpable anger among our members at continuing sub-inflationary, late pay awards while we work beyond capacity in under-supported services. This annual uncertainty over when we will actually receive our pay award reinforces the widespread feeling that we are not valued, and leads to doctors seeking better paid roles elsewhere. This ultimately impacts on the service delivery, as we have seen in workplaces such as Daisy Hill over the summer. It is unacceptable that our government continues to let this happen.”

“Doctors do not take strike action lightly but again we have been left with no choice but to stand up for ourselves, our patients and the future of our profession in Northern Ireland,” said Dr Steven Montgomery, chair of BMA’s Northern Ireland resident doctors committee.

“If the health minister is serious about transforming the health service, addressing our waiting list crisis and meeting growing patient demand, then he needs to value doctors by paying us fairly for what we do. We would again call on the health minister to step in and resolve this dispute with a credible offer to avoid more strikes over the festive period and into next year."