NHS consultants warn of further strikes and ‘tipping point’ unless government enters talks

Senior doctors on a picket line outside St James’s university hospital in Leeds last week. Photograph: Gary Calton/The Observer

A doctors’ leader has warned that consultants will not back down in their pay dispute and warned of further strikes next month unless the government offers “meaningful talks” on a settlement.

Vishal Sharma, chair of the British Medical Association’s consultants committee, said the NHS was at a “tipping point”, with many senior doctors considering quitting over healthcare failures and the erosion of their pay. He said there was a risk of a two-tier service emerging similar to the one in NHS dentistry, with patients going private to avoid long waits.