'Morale is at an all-time low here' as British Medical Association announces that consultants in Northern Ireland are to be balloted for industrial action

The BMA have stated that they have met with the Department of Health to discuss concerns over "the continuing erosion of consultant pay" and the effect it is having on consultant recruitment and retention, as well as the subsequent effect on patient care.

With a new pay deal already agreed for consultants in England and talks ongoing for counterparts in Wales and Scotland, BMA Northern Ireland consultants committee chair Dr David Farren said it was "imperative" that consultants here did not fall further behind their colleagues.

“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," he said. "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.

“We asked consultants in Northern Ireland last year were they willing to strike, and they were clear they were; 77% of those who responded said they were willing to take industrial action.

“But we have held off moving to a full ballot in the hope that with a new Executive and Health Minister in place we could make some progress and address this issue, but unfortunately we have not been able to come to agreement with them.

“The Minister has said that he will apply last years’ DDRB uplift of 6%, but doctors here are still waiting for that to be paid. We have been told it might be in the June pay run, just before the 2024-25 DDRB recommendation is made, so nearly a year late, all of which contributes to consultants feeling totally devalued.

"We will now ballot consultants with a view to taking industrial action. This is not the action we had hoped we would have to take but we have been left with no other option. If we don’t do something now to fix our pay, then what we will see is the continued loss of doctors from our health service and a system that will no longer be able to care for patients.”

The ballot for consultant members will open on Tuesday 7 May for five weeks, closing on Monday 10 June.

Meanwhile, NIPSA social work staff members in the Belfast Health Trust will begin industrial action today.

The action will extend into the Northern Trust on May 2 and will roll out to other Trusts over the next few weeks, with the dispute centring around a sustained staffing crisis in family and childcare services.

To avert industrial action, NIPSA held a last-ditch meeting with the Health minister, Robin Swann, which took place on Wednesday, April 24. However, the meeting did not reach a useful conclusion.