NHS Wales: Doctors call off strike after significant proposal

Industrial action by consultants and specialist doctors in Wales has been called off after a "significant proposal" from the Welsh government.

BMA Cymru suspended its plan to hold a two-day strike from 16 April after "constructive talks" to resolve an ongoing pay dispute.

It would have been the first walk-out by senior doctors in Wales, after three this year by junior doctors.

They also agreed to pause industrial action while talks take place.

The Welsh government warned a significant amount of work still has been done to find the funding needed to support the proposal being discussed.

First Minister Vaughan Gething said: "We currently face the most severe financial situation in the devolution era which makes our task far harder.

"We have worked to identify a way forward that I hope will lead to the successful resolution of this dispute and ensure that doctors can return to work in NHS Wales."

Consultant and other specialist doctors make up 54% of the hospital-based medical workforce with 3,137 consultants and 1,088 specialist grade doctors working in hospitals across Wales.

The 48-hour strike next week would have seen them offering Christmas day level cover, causing the postponement of almost all planned appointments and treatments, while protecting urgent and emergency care.

Timing is everything and, at the end of each financial year, updated calculations are done by the UK government, meaning the Welsh government will sometimes get more cash as a result of the funding formula.

First Minister Vaughan Gething said "the position changed materially at the end of the financial year" and it is this that allowed "meaningful talks" to take place with doctors.

Of course we don't know whether this will be enough to call off the action completely, but the fact it's enough to suspend industrial action is a welcome step in the right direction.

The BMA said pay for this group of doctors has fallen by more than a third since 2008-09 in real terms.

The Welsh government's previous final pay offer was 5%, which the doctors' union argued was the least generous of any UK nation.

Junior doctors, who also rejected a 5% pay offer, have been on strike for a total of 10 days so far this year, with about 3,000 estimated to have taken part.

Each day of the strike costs the Welsh NHS about £1.1m, so industrial action by junior doctors in 2024 is likely to have cost Welsh health boards about £11m.