Northern Ireland hospital doctors set November strike dates over pay

Hospital doctors in Northern Ireland will strike for 24 hours on two dates in November, the British Medical Association’s Northern Ireland branch announced on 15 October 2026. Resident doctors will walk out from 7am on Friday 20 November to 7am on Saturday 21 November. Consultants and SAS doctors will take action from 7am on Monday 23 November to 7am on Tuesday 24 November, providing what the BMA calls Christmas day cover.

The three branches of hospital doctors in Northern Ireland took strike action in June after what the BMA described as overwhelming yes votes for industrial action. The association says doctors’ pay has fallen by upwards of 26 per cent over the past 18 years because of below-inflation pay awards, and it has warned that it will escalate action if progress on pay erosion is not made.

The dispute over the 2026/27 uplift

The BMA said it had recently met the new health minister, who could not confirm whether the minimum annual pay uplift for 2026/27 would be paid before Christmas, or at all. According to the BMA, doctors were told the decision ultimately lay with the Northern Ireland Executive, and the same uplift has already been paid to doctors elsewhere in the UK. The release does not give the size of the uplift, say which other nations have paid it, or name the minister.

Dr Clodagh Corrigan, chair of the BMA’s Northern Ireland SAS committee, said the BMA needed a credible offer from government that made meaningful progress towards full pay restoration.

Pressure on hospital services

Dr David Farren, chair of the BMA’s Northern Ireland consultants committee, linked pay directly to staffing.

Pay is central to recruitment and retention of doctors and hinders the delivery of a sustainable and safe health service.

Dr David Farren, chair, BMA Northern Ireland consultants committee

Dr Farren said doctors were working beyond capacity in under-supported services, and that uncertainty over late, below-inflation pay awards left doctors feeling undervalued and led some to seek better-paid roles elsewhere, which he said had affected service delivery in workplaces such as Daisy Hill over the summer. The release does not say what happened at Daisy Hill. Dr Steven Montgomery, chair of the BMA’s Northern Ireland resident doctors committee, said doctors do not take strike action lightly. He urged the health minister to resolve the dispute with a credible offer to avoid further strikes over the festive period, and referred to the region’s waiting list crisis.

The release does not say how many doctors are expected to take part, which health and social care trusts or services will be most affected, or what arrangements will cover emergency care beyond the Christmas day cover described for senior doctors.

Our reading

• The Healthcare Daily’s reading: splitting the action means employers face two separate 24-hour disruptions within four days, with resident doctors out first and consultants and SAS doctors providing Christmas day cover the following Monday. Rota planning and the rescheduling of planned activity will have to cover both.
• The dispute turns on whether an uplift that the BMA says has been paid elsewhere in the UK is paid in Northern Ireland, and the BMA says that decision sits with the Executive. That places the outcome with the devolved budget rather than with hospital managers.
• Agencies and locum suppliers may see higher demand around the strike dates, but the BMA has given no figures on expected participation, and health service employers had not set out their contingency plans in the material we read.