STRIKES
NHS doctors announce shock summer strike
The BMA blindsided health chiefs who had been holding weeks of pay talks
NHS junior doctors held 96-hour walkout last month in a dispute over pay
STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA
Junior doctors have vowed to “strike throughout the summer” after upping their pay demand to 49 per cent during negotiations with the government.
On Monday the British Medical Association announced another 72-hour strike next month, blindsiding health officials who had been involved in three weeks of intensive pay talks.
Ministers had agreed to offer the union a pay rise in the region of 5 per cent — the same deal offered to nurses and paramedics — in the hope of bringing the dispute to an end.
However, the BMA refused to back down on its starting position of a 35 per cent pay rise. In discussions over a multi-year pay deal ending in 2025, the union said it would accept only a pay rise of
