Why doctors voted to strike – and nurses didn’t

As the crisis in the NHS continues, patients may be glad to hear the nurses’ strike is over. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has been forced to end its industrial action today after nurses failed to back a vote for more walkouts. But within hours of that announcement, any hope that the NHS might be returning to business as normal fell flat: consultants, the most senior doctors in the service, voted to strike – 86 per cent are in favour, on a turnout of 71 per cent. And while nurses won’t be walking out, many join doctors in remaining unhappy about the pay and working conditions within the health service.

Senior doctors will now stage a 48-hour walkout on 20 and 21 July, with clinicians providing ‘Christmas Day’ cover, which allows for emergency care plus a small level of routine work. This will follow planned strike action by junior doctors in England, which will last for five continuous days from 13 July to 18 July, to result in the longest walkout since the creation of the health service 75 years ago.