Senior doctors cancel two-day strike planned for this month

Consultant doctors across England have cancelled their planned two-day walkout for this month to engage in formal discussions with the government. The strike action was originally scheduled to commence on 25 November at 06:59 GMT.

During the proposed strike, consultants were expected to provide only emergency care, a level of service known as Christmas Day cover. This measure would have significantly disrupted most routine and elective medical procedures.

The British Medical Association, representing the doctors, announced it is pausing the strike to negotiate pay and working conditions. While consultants in hospitals received a 3.5% pay rise this year, the union claims that pay has decreased by 25% over the previous 17 years when adjusted for inflation.

In addition to pay, the union is seeking a reduction in the standard working week from 40 to 35 hours. They are also calling for increased remuneration for out-of-hours work and greater flexibility regarding pension arrangements.

The BMA consultants committee co-chairs, Dr Helen Neary and Dr Shanu Datta, said in a statement: "We welcome the opportunity to enter formal negotiations with the government and hope this marks a turning point in a dispute that has gone on for far too long." They added: "We've always said strikes do not need to go ahead as long as the government is willing to genuinely negotiate, and now is their chance to do so."

The committee co-chairs further noted: "We have received assurances that there are no constraints on what we discuss in these negotiations, and we look forward to hearing their proposals on both pay and working conditions." Average annual earnings for these senior doctors exceed £150,000.

According to government figures, 76% of the consultants who participated in the strike ballot voted in favour of the action, though only slightly more than half of eligible BMA members took part. The government stated that this equates to approximately one in five consultants employed by the NHS in England voting for the strike, as nearly half are not members of the BMA.