Ballot for junior doctor strike action in Northern Ireland

A ballot is a vote by members of a trade union about whether to take industrial action. 

When did the ballot take place?

The ballot opened on 8 January 2024 and closed on 19 February 2024.

Ballot results

The industrial action ballot of junior doctors working in Northern Ireland results were as follows:

Of those entitled to vote 97.6% voted yes for industrial action. The turnout was 63.7%.

We therefore staged a full walk out from 8am on 6 March 2024 to 8am on 7 March 2024.

“It is clear from this result that junior doctors feel they have no other option but to strike. We owe it to ourselves, our patients and the future of the health service to act. We have had 16 years of pay erosion which now amounts to over 30% loss of pay, yet in this time our workload and burnout levels have risen.

Coupled with rising inflation this is a huge financial loss for anyone in any profession, but it is causing an acute workforce crisis among junior doctors as many are thinking about leaving Northern Ireland to work elsewhere for better pay and working conditions, where the complex and skilled work we undertake is properly rewarded.

Dr Fiona Griffin, BMA NIJDC chair