England hospital consultants pause 48-hour strike

The British Medical Association paused a 48-hour strike by senior hospital consultants in England on Nov. 11, after Health Secretary Yvette Cooper agreed to formal talks, the Guardian reported.

The suspension averts emergency-only consultant cover planned for Nov. 25-26, while leaving open a dispute over a BMA-reported 25% real-terms pay decline versus a 3.5% rise for 2026/27.

The BMA announced the planned walkout after 18 months of discussions with the government failed to produce agreement. Consultants voted in July to take industrial action.

The dispute covers pay, workload and working conditions. The BMA said consultants have experienced a 25% fall in real-terms pay over 17 years and has also sought a 10% reduction in working hours.

“We welcome the opportunity to enter formal negotiations with the government and hope this marks a turning point in a dispute that has gone on for too long”, Helen Neary and Shanu Dattu, co-chairs of the BMA’s consultants committee, said.

The BMA leaders said they had received assurances that there were “no constraints” on the subjects for negotiation, including pay and working conditions. They also said strike action could return if consultants do not receive “a deal that recognises our value”.

Cooper welcomed the decision and said the cancelled action would help avoid disruption for patients and the wider National Health Service before winter. She said discussions with the BMA had covered reforms that could give consultants “a stronger voice, greater flexibility and more freedom to innovate”.

The main unresolved issue is pay. The Department of Health and Social Care made clear, according to the Guardian, that negotiations would not include any increase beyond the 3.5% rise consultants have already received for 2026/27.

The Guardian reported that DHSC sources said the government’s negotiating mandate does not allow extra consultant pay in this financial year. They also said Cooper could not justify higher pay for some of the highest earners at the expense of patient care during a wider cost-of-living squeeze.

Consultants in England typically earn £152,000 a year after overtime and merit awards, a figure the Guardian reported has risen by about £25,000 since 2022. The BMA argues that pay erosion, heavier workloads and worsening conditions are affecting doctors and the future of the NHS.

NHS leaders had warned that the two-day strike would have forced hospitals to postpone and rearrange operations and outpatient appointments scheduled for Nov. 25 and Nov. 26.

Ciarán Devane, chief executive of the NHS Alliance, which represents England’s 205 NHS trusts, called the pause “welcome news to NHS leaders” and “a positive step” toward an agreement.

Formal negotiations are due to start next week, with pay excluded from the government’s stated mandate but still central to the BMA’s position.

Source: news article, The Guardian Health, Nov. 11, 2026

Atlas360 reports health research and does not provide medical advice.