Junior doctors: Stormont rally as medics begin another 48-hour walkout

Junior doctors began strike action (today) across Northern Ireland for the second time in under a month.

Just like the strike in May, this is another 48-hour walkout over pay and staff retention.

The strike began at 7 this morning and ends at 7am on Saturday.

Rather than holding picket lines, junior doctors converged at Stormont for a rally in the afternoon.

It follows a 48-hour strike from May 22-24 and will affect hospitals and GP surgeries across the region.

Their union, BMA Northern Ireland, has called for a commitment to full pay restoration to 2008 levels, claiming that junior doctors have seen their salaries effectively eroded by 30% over the last 15 years due to a failure to make pay awards in line with inflation.

It says newly qualified medics in Northern Ireland see colleagues working elsewhere in the UK and in other jurisdictions getting better pay and conditions for less pressurised workloads, and warned doctors are leaving the health service in increasing numbers.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Health said they expect widespread disruption to services across Thursday and Friday.

They said that when the ballot for the industrial action was launched, junior doctors along with all health service staff had not received a pay award for 2023/24.

They said this is no longer the case and a backdated 2023/24 pay award for junior doctors will be paid this month, with its terms in line with the recommendations of the national pay review body.

"This pay award involves an average pay increase of 9.07% for junior doctors in Northern Ireland, with those in their first year receiving a 10.68% uplift," they added.