NHS consultants to be balloted on strikes as thousands 'driven out of jobs'
The NHS pay crisis could deepen still further, with consultants becoming the latest staff asked if they back strike action.
Ministers have been warned that top medics are being "driven out of jobs they love" by the government's failure to act..
The British Medical Association (BMA) warned that staff shortages are having a "catastrophic" impact on patients, and said morale within the health service "has never been as low".
it warns that senior medics have endured a 35% real-terms cut in their take home pay since the Tories took office - with many forced to cut back hours because of tax issues or leave the NHS entirely.
If they opt to strike, it would be another escalation in a crisis which has already seen tens of thousands of nurses, ambulance workers and physiotherapists walk out in recent months.
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The ballot ramps further pressure on Health Secretary Steve Barclay (UK PARLIAMENT/AFP via Getty Imag)And 45,000 junior doctors are also being balloted over strike action, with a result due to be announced next month.
It ramps up pressure on Health Secretary Steve Barclay as unions clamour for a better pay deal for NHS staff who are struggling to make ends meet.
Dr Vishal Sharma, chairman of the BMA consultants committee, accused ministers of being "unwilling to act" despite repeated warnings.
He said: "The NHS is on its knees, patients are suffering and staff morale has never been lower.
"Senior doctors are cutting their hours or leaving the NHS in their droves, driven out of jobs they love by unfair pension tax rules and brutal cuts to their pay."
The result on patients is "catastrophic", he said.
The BMA today says it will hold an indicative ballot, allowing members to say if they would support strike action.
This would have to be followed by a full ballot in order for industrial action to be legal.
It accuses the government of interfering with the pay review process and calls for a complete shake-up of the way NHS pay is set.
Dr Sharma said: "The only way out of this crisis is to fix pay, fix pensions and fix the pay review body.
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"Consultants would not take industrial action lightly, but, in the absence of meaningful solutions from Government, we've been left with no option but to consult our members' views on whether they wish for us to hold a formal ballot for industrial action."
Saffron Cordery, NHS Providers’ interim chief executive, said: “The threat of more strikes is alarming for an overstretched NHS already battling to cope with the effects of the most widespread industrial action in its history."
She continued: “Pay is one key aspect of recruiting and retaining the staff which the NHS so desperately needs therefore it’s vital that the government sits down with the unions urgently to avert more strikes."
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