Junior doctors could go on a "full walkout" strike for 72 hours in March if a ballot for industrial action is successful.
The ballot begins on Monday, but the BMA is calling on the Health Secretary to meet with doctors and negotiate a solution to avoid strikes. The BMA said Steve Barclay was the first Health Secretary for over 50 years to continue to "ignore" their invitations to meet with doctors to discuss their pay, making attempts to find a negotiated settlement "virtually impossible".
The BMA said successive governments have overseen 15 years of real terms pay cuts for junior doctors in England, which amounts to a "staggering and unjustifiable" 26.1% decline in pay since 2008/09. It further said patients were suffering and exhausted staff were burning out and leaving the NHS and yet the Government "fails to see the crisis in front of it".
