Junior doctors strike coincides with launch of new IT system

When the ballot for this industrial action was launched, junior doctors, like the rest of Northern Ireland’s health service staff, had received no pay award for 2023/24.

However, the DoH said a backdated 2023/24 pay award for junior doctors will be paid this month, “with its terms in line with the recommendations of the national pay review body, the DDRB”.

This pay award involves an average pay increase of 9.07% for junior doctors in Northern Ireland, with those in their first year receiving a 10.68% uplift.

The current base starting salary for a junior doctor is about £26,000.

However, this does not take into account weekend or out-of-hours work.

Dr Fiona Griffin, chairwoman of the BMA Northern Ireland junior doctors committee, told BBC News NI that doctors pay had fallen by 30% over the last 15 years and that recommended pay uplifts did not bring doctors “anywhere close to pay restoration”.

“Lots of our doctors are moving across the water to posts, a lot are going to Australia – that’s the sensible financial thing to do at the minute.

“So what we are saying time and time again is that we are losing doctors because we are not paying them properly.”

Speaking from a rally at Stormont she said: “I would apologise to any patients for the impact this has had on them but what we are saying is that we would like there to be a health service with doctors five years from now and the way things are going that is not going ot be the case”.