Simultaneous ballots of consultants and specialist, associate specialist, and specialty (SAS) doctors will run from 11 May until 6 July.

Consultants in England are in dispute with the Government over pay and improvements to consultants' working lives. The BMA says these changes are necessary to restore the value they can offer as clinical leaders, protect against burnout and ensure retention of the NHS's most skilled and senior doctors.

The BMA's consultants committee wants consultants to have more protected time to focus on innovation, teaching future generations of clinicians and improving services for patients, a reduction in standard hours and better recognition for the most demanding work out of hours.

Consultants also want action to reverse longstanding pay erosion that has left consultant pay still a quarter down on 2008/09 in real terms, with last week's pay award of 3.5% for 2026/27 making no progress at all at reversing this.

Pay for SAS doctors is also down 24% in real terms since 2008/09, and alongside reversing this ongoing erosion, the BMA's SAS committee is calling for improvements to career progression and opportunities for SAS doctors so they can offer their full potential to patients and the health service.

This includes increasing the number of specialist roles – a new grade of doctor introduced in 2021 – and giving SAS doctors an improved mechanism to reach these posts; and reducing plain time hours and improving annual leave entitlements to ensure SAS doctors are not disadvantaged compared to other groups.

Despite recent discussions with the Government, both committees say nowhere near enough progress has been made.

BMA consultants committee co-chairs Dr Shanu Datta and Dr Helen Neary said: ‘If the Government insists on devaluing our top clinical leaders – whether that's through driving them to burnout, not enabling them to lead service development, quality improvement and education of future consultants, or indeed through real-terms pay cuts – they will be prevented from realising their potential as clinical leaders at a time when, more than ever, patients need consultants to be driving change and innovation as well as bringing down waiting lists.

‘In the short term, ministers must ask themselves whether they can afford to have all hospital doctors with a mandate to take industrial action at the same time. In the longer term, what message does it send about their ability to safeguard the future of the medical profession, the sustainability of healthcare in the UK and the health of the population, when they are not prepared to recognise its most expert clinicians and keep them caring for the public and their health?'

BMA SAS committee chair Dr Ujjwala Mohite added: ‘Alongside pay erosion, SAS doctors face barriers to career development and lack of opportunities that recognise their skills and value they bring to hospitals and patients.

‘Despite making clear that we were no longer taking this lying down and that our members are prepared to act, we've seen far too little progress from the Government in talks, and now ministers and the DDRB have wasted another opportunity to address pay erosion. So, with our consultant colleagues, we are forced to take this fight to the next stage.'

Should the ballots be successful, the Government risks having all doctors working in secondary care in England taking industrial action during the same period.