JUNIOR doctors have voted to drag out strike misery for another six months.
Medics will be able to down tools again from April 3 to September 19, the British Medical Association announced.
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Doctors voted 98 per cent in favour of extending industrial action, with union bosses claiming the Government “believed it could ignore, delay, and offer excuses long enough that we would simply give up”.
Dr Robert Laurenson, of the BMA, said: “Today’s re-ballot shows that doctors understand that reversing 15 years of declining pay means being in the struggle for the long haul.”
Dr Laurenson, who has led the walkouts for so long he has finished his training and is not even a junior doctor any more, said No10 “should see the urgency of the situation”.
He said: “Rather than waste time dragging out talks, they can come forward with a credible offer on pay right now.
“They don’t need to be in the same situation six months from now, with even more taxpayer money wasted.
“Instead they could be celebrating a revitalised and reinvigorated junior doctor workforce, one that feels that their value has started to be restored.”
Nearly 1.5million NHS appointments have been delayed since strikes first began last year.
The walkouts are expected to cost the health service an estimated £3billion.
Health bosses warned the “worrying escalation” will “inevitably lead to more disruption to patient care”.
Saffron Cordery, of NHS Providers, said: “We cannot go on like this.
“Politicians and unions must urgently find a way to resolve all disputes for the sake of patients, staff and the NHS.”
“The knock-on effects for hospital trusts will be also be major worry for leaders and their teams who have spent countless hours preparing for strikes.
“This is time that could have been spent improving patient care and tackling sky-high waiting lists.
“Trust leaders are now facing anxious waits on three fronts with consultants voting on whether to accept their new deal, and specialist, associate specialist and specialty doctors being surveyed on their rejected deal.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “It is disappointing that BMA members have once again voted for industrial action.
“We have already given junior doctors a pay rise of up to 10.3 per cent this financial year and made clear in previous negotiations that further investment was available.
“We again urge the BMA Junior Doctors’ Committee to demonstrate they have reasonable expectations so we can come back to the negotiating table to find a fair deal that works for the NHS, doctors and patients.”
How much do junior doctors earn?
The pay received by junior doctors is dependent on experience.
In 2023/24, the basic annual pay for a first-year junior doctor in England is £32,397.
This was after the government also announced a pay rise for junior doctors of 6% plus £1,250 each.
This began to be paid in autumn 2023, backdated to April.
This works out at a basic pay of £15.53 per hour for most junior doctors.
However, the average junior doctor is not in their first year and therefore earns much more than basic pay.
According to the NHS Digital workforce and earnings data, the average full-time junior doctor in September 2023 earned a basic pay of £44,5000.
This figure also does not include any extra earnings, which comes from working extra hours.
A doctor beginning their specialist training will earn between £40,257 to £53,398 a year.
The average salary is about £50,000 per year.
If you are a specialist grade doctor you’ll earn a basic salary of £83,945 to £92,275.