AFTER the latest 48-hour strike from junior doctors ended on Saturday morning, consultants in Northern Ireland now have until Monday to decide if they will follow.
Most recently, there has been serious concerns about the shortfalls in the new health budget and the appointment of a new Health Minister Mike Nesbitt.
On Friday in Wales, the BMA recommended pay uplifts for junior doctors, specialist doctors and consultants.
Before the five-week ballot in Northern Ireland opened, Dr David Farren who chairs the BMA’s Northern Ireland Consultants Committee, said: “We really feel we have been left with no alternative but to strike.
“Morale is at an all-time low among consultants here; we do not feel valued for the complex, challenging and stressful work we undertake, and we do not deserve to be paid less than colleagues in the rest of the UK or Ireland for doing the same job.
“In fact, given the crisis in our health service the job is arguably even harder here. It is imperative that we secure at least the same terms and conditions for consultants here.”
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Last year, a total of 77% of consultants who responded said they were willing to strike but held off on moving to a full ballot in the hope the new Stormont Executive could make progress.
Consultants are due to be paid the 2023/24 pay uplift of 6% this month, nearly a year late, which Dr Farren said had contributed to consultants feeling “totally undervalued”.
The hospital doctors’ union (HCSA), which represents around 10% of consultants in Belfast and 5% across Northern Ireland as a whole, has also announced plans for their first ballot for strike action.
The union said that consultant pay was around £10,000 lower per year than in England, Scotland and Wales and half the rate of the Republic of Ireland, which had “a disastrous impact on recruitment and retention” which left hospitals short of hundreds of doctors and risking patient care.
HCSA Executive Committee member for Northern Ireland, Dr Mark Worthington said: “This is an unprecedented decision by our union and underlines the strength of feeling among our most experienced doctors after years with no meaningful action by successive administrations and political impasse.
“Consultants and SAS doctors are saying enough is enough: you can’t keep ignoring the issue of pay parity if you want to establish any kind of stability in the health service.”
With increasing staff vacancies, he said it was time for politicians to wake up to the “grave crisis” facing hospitals.
“It was not an easy decision to move to a strike ballot for the first time in our history. But when warning after warning and the facts on the ground are ignored, this feels like the only option we had left.”
