British medical group backs doctors' strike as nurses' walkout fizzles after too few vote

June 27 (UPI) -- The British Medical Association membership backed a two-day strike by National Health Service consultants on Tuesday in their quest for a pay increase.

In the United Kingdom, senior doctors are referred to as "NHS consultants."

The NHS consultants in England said they would walk out on July 20-21 if they gained the support of the BMA, which announced on Tuesday they supported the move by 86%. The consultants' strike will come after a five-day strike by junior doctors, which will end July 18.

"Consultants don't want to have to take industrial action but have been left with no option in the face of a government that continues to cut our pay year after year," said BMA consultants committee chair Dr. Vishal Sharma said.

According to the latest NHS figures, there are more than 58,000 consultants in the organization with 33,915 eligible to vote.

"We know consultants don't take the decision around industrial action lightly, but this vote shows how furious they are at being repeatedly devalued by government," Sharma wrote to Britain's Health Secretary Steve Barclay. "Consultants are not worth a third less than we were 15 years ago and have had enough."

The announcement comes after Britain's largest nursing union conceded Tuesday that it had failed to win a mandate for another six months of strikes in England over pay after too few members cast ballots but said they had been put off by having to vote by post.

Turnout by members of 500,000 strong Royal College of Nursing fell short of the 50% required by law for the vote to be valid, but that did not spell the end of a dispute that saw nurses walk out for eight days, the union said in a news release.

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen questioned rules that dictated that ballots be conducted by post only and not online.

"While the vast majority of members who returned their ballot papers voted in favor of strike action, we didn't meet the 50% turnout threshold necessary for us to be able to take further strike action," said Cullen.

"While this will be disappointing for many of you, the fight for the fair pay and safe staffing our profession, our patients, and our NHS deserve is far from over.

"This week, the government will say it has a plan for the NHS workforce. I am seeing the prime minister this afternoon to hear him out and to ask him the questions you wanted answering on his commitment to nurses and support workers," Cullen said.

"I know staff morale is low and the staffing crisis is set to worsen without immediate action. I will be telling him this today," Cullen said.

"We have started something special -- the voice of nursing has never been stronger and we're going to keep using it."

In April, the union rejected a 5% raise plus a one-off payment of $2,110 that other health unions accepted, but the six-month strike mandate it won from its members in November expired on May 1, forcing it to cut short a planned three-day strike April 30 through May 2.

The Department of Health and Social Care welcomed the news but said nurses were "hugely valued."

"We hope other unions who remain in dispute with the government recognize it is time to stop industrial action and move forward together," said a spokesperson.

The NHS in England has been hit by waves of strikes since late last year by nurses, paramedics and doctors.

But RCN's failure to win an extension of its mandate leaves Unite -- which represents paramedics and support staff -- and the doctors' British Medical Association as the two remaining unions in England with a mandate for strike action. The Royal College of Radiographers is still balloting its members.

'Junior' doctors are set to walk out for five days starting July 13 in the longest strike ever to hit the NHS following on from a three-day walkout this month, four days in April and a three-day strike in March.

They have rejected the government's 5% offer and are seeking a 35% rise to compensate for a one-fourth real terms pay cut since 2008 and prevent doctors being lured away to work overseas.

Junior doctor refers to any doctor who is not yet a specialist.