Junior doctors and consultants to strike together for first time in NHS history

Nine months of industrial action in the NHS has impacted about 940,000 appointments

Junior doctors and consultants will hold a joint strike for the first time in the history of the health service.

The coordinated industrial action is set to take place in September and October, the British Medical Association (BMA) said.

Consultants had already announced plans to walk out for 48 hours from 19 September, and will be joined by their junior colleagues on 20 September. Junior doctors will then continue their strike on 21 and 22 September.

Both consultants and junior doctors will then strike together on 2, 3 and 4 October.

Staff will work on a “Christmas day cover” basis for both spells of industrial action, meaning emergency care will continue to be provided.

It comes after junior doctors voted in favour of continuing strike action, with the BMA’s mandate on industrial action renewed for another six months.

The union has now told prime minister Rishi Sunak he has “nowhere to hide”.

Junior doctor committee co-chairmen Dr Rob Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said: “Today, junior doctors across England are sending a single message, loud and clear to the Government: we are not going anywhere.

“We are prepared to continue with our industrial action, but we don’t have to – the prime minister has the power to halt any further action by making us a credible offer that we can put to our members. Refusing to negotiate with us and with our consultant colleagues is not the way ahead.

“Rishi Sunak now has nowhere to hide. There can be no more delaying, no more wasting time with impositions of pay deals, no more declarations that strikes must end before even stepping in the room with us.

“If he does not come to the table with a credible offer on pay, he will face another six months of strike action. And another six months after, and after that, if he continues to ignore us. He knows the stakes, he knows our ask and now he knows our resolve.”

In July, the government said junior doctors would get pay rises of 6%, along with an additional consolidated £1,250 increase, and hospital consultants will also receive 6%.

Health secretary Steve Barclay has said there will be “no more negotiations on pay”.

Earlier this week it was revealed that the latest consultants strike – which took place on 24-26 August – impacted 45,827 inpatient and outpatient hospital appointments in England.

A further 1,302 cancellations in mental health, learning disability and community settings were also recorded, though this is likely to include a small amount of double-counting, NHS England said.

Industrial action in the NHS has been ongoing since December 2022, with the number of inpatient and outpatient appointments cancelled now standing at 885,154.

If the community and mental health figures are included, the total rises to more than 940,000 – though this will not reflect the overall number of actual cancellations, due to some duplication of data.