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Three day junior doctor strike announced for June

Published on: 22 May 2023

Junior doctors will stage a second three day walk out in the middle of next month. 

The strike will begin at 7am on Wednesday 14 June and end on the morning of Saturday 17 June.

The strike will last for 24 hours less than the four-day stoppage in mid-April. Junior doctors also staged a three day strike in mid-March.

A statement issued by the British Medical Association said: “In response to the Government’s paltry 5 per cent pay increase offer we are calling for a full 72-hour walk out of all junior doctors in England. Junior doctors deserve full pay restoration now – and the goal of this third round of industrial action is to force the Government to put forward a credible offer.”

Co-chair of the BMA’s junior doctor committee Robert Laurenson posted a message on the social media site Twitter saying: “We have been clearly told by DHSC that doctors wages are being suppressed and withheld by @RishiSunak himself. The Prime Minister now needs to explain to tens of thousands of doctors why he values us less than a doctor was worth in 2008.”

NHS England strategy director Chris Hopson blamed the NHS’s failure to its target of ending 78 week elective waits by April on the strikes, and the government has identified it as a major threat to its commitments of cutting the waiting list. HSJ reported last week that NHSE had targeted clearing the waits by July as long there was no further industrial unrest.

The June walk out coincides with the annual NHS Confederation conference, which is attended by many of the service’s most senior leaders.

The BMA’s strike mandate lasts until late August, but the medical trade union is planning a ballot to gain permission to extend it should the dispute be unresolved by then.