Senior secondary care doctors in England will be balloted for industrial action following an ‘inadequate’ award of a 3.5 per cent uplift from the pay review body.

The BMA announced consultants and specialist, associate specialist and specialty doctors will escalate their disputes with the Government following a lack of progress in talks and last week’s pay award.

Simultaneous ballots of consultants and SAS doctors will run from 11 May until 6 July.
Should the ballots be successful, the Government risks having all doctors working in secondary care in England take industrial action during the same period.

Consultants in England are in dispute with the Government on pay and improvements to consultants’ working lives. The BMA has said these changes are necessary to restore the value they can offer as clinical leaders, protect against burnout and ensure retention of the NHS’s most skilled and senior doctors.

According to the GMC, almost a quarter of doctors took a leave of absence owing to stress last year, while almost three in four consultant surgeons told the Royal College of Surgeons burnout and stress are major challenges.

Protected time

The BMA consultants committee wants consultants to have more protected time to focus on innovation, teaching future generations of clinicians and improving services for patients, a reduction in standard hours and better recognition for the most demanding work out of hours.

Consultants also want action to reverse longstanding pay erosion which has left consultant pay still a quarter down on 2008/09 in real terms, with last week’s pay award of 3.5 per cent for 2026/27 making no progress at all at reversing this.

Pay for SAS doctors is also down 24 per cent in real terms since 2008/09, and alongside reversing this continuing erosion, the BMA specialist, associate specialist and specialty doctors committee is calling for improvements to career progression and opportunities for SAS doctors so they can offer their full potential to patients and the health service.

This includes increasing the number of specialist roles – a new grade of doctor introduced in 2021 – and giving SAS doctors an improved mechanism to reach these posts; and reducing plain-time hours and improving annual leave entitlements to ensure SAS doctors are not disadvantaged compared with other groups.

Despite recent discussions with the Government, the committees say nowhere near enough progress has been made.

In a joint statement, BMA consultants committee co-chairs Shanu Datta and Helen Neary said: ‘Over recent months, we have been in discussions with Government but made clear that, without action to reverse a persistent devaluing of the profession, consultants would be forced to seriously consider taking industrial action once again.

‘Unfortunately, as these discussions have gone on, we have not seen anything like enough progress to give consultants any confidence that their concerns are being taken seriously. Nor that the Government is committed to keeping the most senior and expert doctors working here and ensuring their expertise is there for patients and the public for years to come.

‘Now the Government and DDRB have confirmed this, with another pay award that does nothing to reverse pay erosion or rebuild the profession’s confidence in the so-called “independent” pay review body or process.

‘If the Government insists on devaluing our top clinical leaders – whether that’s through driving them to burnout, not enabling them to lead service development, quality improvement and education of future consultants, or indeed through real-terms pay cuts – they will be prevented from realising their potential as clinical leaders at a time when, more than ever, patients need consultants to be driving change and innovation as well as bringing down waiting lists.

‘In the short term, ministers must ask themselves whether they can afford to have all hospital doctors with a mandate to take industrial action at the same time. In the longer term, what message does it send about their ability to safeguard the future of the medical profession, the sustainability of healthcare in the UK and the health of the population, when they are not prepared to recognise its most expert clinicians and keep them caring for the public and their health?’

BMA specialist, associate specialist and specialty doctors committee chair Ujjwala Mohite said: ‘SAS doctors continue to be overlooked as the NHS’s unsung heroes – dedicated and expert clinicians but under-appreciated and undervalued by employers, healthcare leaders and politicians.

‘Alongside pay erosion, SAS doctors face barriers to career development and lack of opportunities that recognise their skills and value they bring to hospitals and patients.

‘Despite making clear that we were no longer taking this lying down and that our members are prepared to act, we’ve seen far too little progress from the Government in talks and now ministers and the DDRB have wasted another opportunity to address pay erosion. So, with our consultant colleagues, we are forced to take this fight to the next stage.

‘If the Government wants to demonstrate its commitment to patients and tackling waits and pressures in the NHS, it cannot do that while simultaneously devaluing the very doctors tasked with making that a reality.’