Junior Doctors in HCSA – the hospital doctors’ union have voted overwhelmingly for strike action in an all-England ballot.

A decisive 97% Yes result was achieved on a turnout of 74.76%, easily passing legal thresholds.

The result means that HCSA will now agree the timing and shape of strike action in coordination with other health unions.

HCSA President Dr Naru Narayanan said the ballot result should act as a wake-up call to the government ahead of a separate vote of Junior Doctors by the British Medical Association which is set to close on 20th February.

Dr Narayanan said: “This result underlines the huge anger among Junior Doctors at the staffing turmoil and years of pay decline they have been subjected to. They have seen a decade of real terms pay cuts totalling over 26 per cent and in the past four years their pay has fallen even faster behind other doctors.

“At the same time they are trying to hold together care in an NHS which is suffering from years of neglect, leaving them emotionally and mentally broken. They face huge university debts, their training has been plunged into chaos by Covid and they are asked to fund substantial parts of their own training.

“The government must see this result as a wake-up call from its current complacency. Junior Doctors are telling us they have had enough of being taken for granted. They are telling us they will leave the country if things do not get better.

“This is a critical issue for our NHS. If the government does not increase pay as part of a wider funding package then the current ragged workforce will collapse and the hospital consultants of the future will vote with their feet and leave. We are teetering on the edge of a precipice. Now is the time to negotiate a way out of this crisis.”

ENDS