Consultants in England are “ready to strike,” as 86% vote in favour of action

Consultants in England could soon face a formal ballot on industrial action over pay and pensions, after the BMA’s consultative ballot showed 86% in favour of strike action. The ballot, which was launched at the beginning of February to get a sense of the profession’s stance, saw more than 17 000 senior hospital doctors say they were ready to strike. The turnout for the ballot was 61%.

Unless the government outlines serious proposals before 3 April for how it intends to “fix pay, pensions, and the broken pay review process,” the BMA has said it will proceed to a statutory ballot of consultants in England around 17 April. If that ballot is successful, consultants …