Junior doctors in Northern Ireland vote to strike in March

Junior doctors in Northern Ireland are to hold a 24 hour walkout from 8 am on 6 March over pay, after 97.6% of BMA members (1108 out of 1135) backed industrial action in a ballot with a turnout of 63.7%.Fiona Griffin, chair of the Northern Ireland Junior Doctors Committee, said the results “demonstrate the strength of feeling over the failure to address years of pay erosion while our workload and burnout levels have risen.”She added, “It’s clear from this result that junior doctors feel they have no other option but to strike. We owe it to ourselves, to our patients and the future of the health service to act now.”The BMA is asking for an immediate above-inflation pay award and a commitment to full pay restoration to 2008 levels. Since then pay has fallen 30% in real terms, while workload and burnout levels have risen.Griffin said, “Coupled with rising inflation,…
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