Today [Monday 29 June] resident doctors across Northern Ireland will embark on strike action over pay.
The 24-hour full walkout from 7am on Monday 29 June to 6.59am on Tuesday 30 June will see resident doctors withdraw their labour from hospitals and GP surgeries across Northern Ireland. Following strikes in 2024 over pay, this new mandated action seeks to continue their fight for full pay restoration.
This new round of strike action was called after resident doctors, alongside consultants and SAS (specialist, associate specialist and specialty) doctors, voted in favour of taking strike action over continuing pay erosion.
Dr Steven Montgomery, chair of BMA’s Northern Ireland resident doctors committee (NIRDC), said: “We did not think we would have to take strike action again so soon after the last walk-outs, but we were left with no choice. Pay erosion for resident doctors still sits at up to 20% since 2008 and we lag behind our colleagues in the rest of the UK and in the south of Ireland on pay.
“Add to that growing patient numbers without the necessary number of doctors needed to meet this demand and pressure, alongside younger doctors looking to leave the health service to work elsewhere for better pay and working conditions. It is unfortunately a perfect storm for our health service.”
This is the first time all doctors in Northern Ireland are in dispute with the Department of Health. Consultants and SAS doctors took strike action over pay last Thursday (25 June) in the form of Christmas Day cover. GPs are still in dispute over the imposition of the 2025/26 GMS contract.
“What does it say about our health service when all branches of practice in medicine are in dispute with the government?” added Dr Montgomery.
“The Health minister can bury his head in the sand about this problem all he wants, but the numbers speak for themselves: there are not enough doctors to treat our growing, ageing population as our waiting list crisis demonstrates; we also know that over half of penultimate and final year medical students studying in Northern Ireland are either planning to leave the country or are undecided once they finish their foundation training, with poor pay cited as the main reason. These medical students – and us as resident doctors - are the future consultants, GPs and SAS doctors that the Department of Health is dependent upon to meet growing patient numbers and implement its plans for a neighbourhood model of care.”
Dr Montgomery reiterated appeals to the Health minister to engage in meaningful negotiations towards pay restoration.
“It is unacceptable that doctors – frontline health care staff – have been once again forced into the position of taking strike action to be heard, while government sits on its hands counts on our goodwill and delayed pay uplifts to keep the health service going. This cannot continue,” he continued.
“We join our consultant and SAS doctor colleagues in calling on government to step in and resolve this dispute with a credible offer to avert strike action and solve these disputes without delay. The very future of the health service depends on it.”
Notes to editors
For more information on the resident doctors pay campaign and how their pay has eroded since 2008, visit http://www.bma.org.uk/residentspayni
On strike day (Monday, 29 June), there will be BMA Northern Ireland resident doctor spokespeople available from 8.30am to 10.30am at the following locations: Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road entrance; Altnagelvin Hospital, Glenshane Road entrance; Craigavon Area Hospital, A27 Lurgan Road entrance.
Media requests should be directed through the BMA Northern Ireland communications team in advance where possible by emailing [email protected]