Hospital doctors announce fresh strikes over pay dispute

Library image. Credit: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

By Lily Canter

Hospital doctors in Northern Ireland have announced fresh strikes in November after failing to secure a pay deal with the government.

Resident doctors will walk out for 24 hours from 7am on 20 November, followed by consultants and specialty, associate specialist and specialist (SAS) doctors, who will provide Christmas Day levels of cover for 24 hours from 23 November.

The British Medical Association (BMA) warned that further strikes could follow unless the government made progress towards reversing years of pay erosion.

The union said doctors' pay had fallen by more than 26% in real terms over the past 18 years following below-inflation pay awards.

All three groups previously took strike action in June.

Dr Clodagh Corrigan, chair of BMA Northern Ireland's SAS committee, said recent talks with the new health minister had failed to produce a credible pay offer.

She said the minister had also been unable to confirm whether doctors would receive their 2026/27 pay award before Christmas, despite colleagues elsewhere in the UK already receiving theirs.