JUNIOR Doctors are to strike for three days before Christmas and six early in the New Year following five weeks of fruitless talks between their BMA trade union and the Tories.
The BMA announced that its junior doctors committee has unanimously voted for further strike action, commencing with nine dates in December and January.
BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said: ‘We have been clear from the outset of these talks that we needed to move at pace and if we did not have a credible offer, we would be forced to call strikes.
‘After five weeks of intense talks, the government was unable to present a credible offer on pay by the deadline.
‘Instead, we were offered an additional 3%, unevenly spread across doctors’ grades, which would still amount to pay cuts for many doctors this year.
‘It is clear the government is still not prepared to address the real-terms pay cut doctors have experienced since 2008…
‘However, we can still avoid the need for these strikes. We will be ready and willing any time the government wants to talk. If a credible offer can be presented the day before, or even during any action, these strikes can be cancelled …
‘A year after our dispute started, we are still too far from turning the tide on plummeting pay, morale, and retention of doctors.
‘Rather than waste more time and money and have further disruption to patient care, the Health Secretary needs to make a credible offer now.’
The strike dates in England are from 7am on the 20th December to 7am on the 23rd December 2023 and from 7am on the 3rd January to 7am on the 9th January 2024.
