Secondary care doctors across the country are being urged to participate in a vote that could ultimately deliver a mandate for industrial action, as BMA Northern Ireland consultants committee chair David Farren warns that ‘urgent action’ is required if doctors’ pay is to be fixed.

The ballot announcement comes following the rejection of a 3.5 per cent pay uplift for 2026/27 for secondary care doctors in Northern Ireland recommended by the Doctors and Dentists Pay Review Body last month [25 March].

In the wake of the DDRB’s offer, chairs for BMA NI’s consultant, SAS and resident doctor committees met with Stormont minister of health Mike Nesbitt warning that the offer of 3.5 per cent would not sufficiently address long-standing erosion of doctors pay.

The BMA further warned that failure to reach an adequate pay settlement risked a further worsening of the recruitment and retention crisis in Northen Ireland’s health service.

With the talks failing to reach a breakthrough, BMA NI has confirmed that all hospital doctors will be balloted over potential strike action, with voting set to commence from 11 May.

Speaking about the decision to move to a ballot, BMA NI consultants committee chair David Farren said that the DDRB’s pay recommendation represented a failure to acknowledge that the vital work of senior doctors was ‘valued and respected’.

He added that unless a meaningful agreement on pay could be reached, there was a very real risk that the NHS in Northern Ireland would see even greater numbers of senior doctors reduce their hours or take early retirement.

He said: ‘The pressures on our members are growing day by day, but this uplift does not reflect the increasing complexity and challenge of the work. 

‘We will now ballot consultants with a view to taking industrial action. Unless urgent action is taken to fix our pay, we will continue to lose doctors from our health service and the system will not be able to care for patients.’

While a long-running pay dispute has seen resident doctors in England engage in strike action this month, resident doctors in Northern Ireland are now considering the possibility of industrial action for their first time in nearly two years.

BMA NI resident doctors committee chair Steven Montgomery said that while the demands placed on doctors was greater than ever, the failure of pay to keep pace meant that many resident doctors were being forced to consider their futures.

He said: ‘We want to build our careers and futures here, but that will only be possible if our work is properly valued. Industrial action is not something resident doctors take lightly, but without meaningful action to restore our pay, the situation will only worsen for both doctors and patients.’

Next month’s ballot will also be open to specialist, associate specialist and specialty doctors working in Northern Ireland, with BMANI SASC chair Leanne Davison saying that many doctors no longer believed that failings over pay could be remedied without direct action.

She said: ‘We have been left with no confidence that these issues will be addressed through the usual channels. Balloting for industrial action is about standing up for fairness and for the future of the health service in Northern Ireland. 

‘Without urgent action on pay, the system risks losing more skilled doctors it simply cannot afford to lose.’

The ballot for consultant, SAS and resident members will open on Monday 11 May for four weeks, closing on Monday 8 June.