Junior doctors in Northern Ireland are set to go on strike for two days due to concerns over pay, with further strikes planned in June. The industrial action is expected to cause significant disruption to health services, with hundreds of appointments and surgeries already postponed. This marks the second time this year that junior doctors have gone on strike in the region. The Junior Doctors Committee of the British Medical Association (BMA) has said that their salaries have fallen 30% since 2006 when adjusted for inflation. The current base salary for a junior doctor in Northern Ireland is approximately £26,000, without any allowances for weekend or out-of-hours work.
Dr Steven Montgomery, who is the deputy chair of the Northern Ireland junior doctor committee within the BMA, said that the strikes are a result of a staffing crisis. He explained that Northern Ireland is “haemorrhaging” doctors and, comparing their pay to that received in 2008, he called for pay restoration rather than a pay lift. Dr Montgomery acknowledged that the strikes will unfortunately impact patients but stated that the doctors had no other choice. The BMA has previously said that junior doctors’ salaries in Northern Ireland had fallen by 30% over the past 15 years.
All five of Northern Ireland’s health trusts have warned that some level of significant or major disruption to services is anticipated during the strike action. The Southern Health Trust said that patients should attend their appointments unless they have been contacted to advise otherwise. The Belfast Trust has said that any affected patients will be contacted directly, and a new date for their appointment arranged. The Northern Ireland junior doctor committee has argued that there has been no progress towards their demands for full pay restoration, despite some non-pay issues being addressed.
Junior doctors in England are to meet government officials to discuss their ongoing pay dispute. Talks are also ongoing with junior doctor representatives in Wales while in Scotland, junior doctors voted to accept a pay offer from the Scottish government in August 2020
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