Next steps for resident doctors in Northern Ireland
The recommendation from the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Pay Review Body (DDRB) of a 3.5% pay uplift is unacceptable to resident doctors in Northern Ireland. It fails to meaningfully address the scale of real terms pay erosion our members have experienced over many years and falls well short of what is needed to stabilise the medical workforce.
This announcement comes after the 2025/2026 DDRB recommended pay uplift was finally paid to doctors in Northern Ireland at the end of February, months after our colleagues elsewhere in the UK received their uplift in full.
We will now be consulting members on our next steps. Resident doctors have been clear that their patience has been exhausted and that stronger action is now required to secure fair pay and protect the future of patient care.
Why we are calling for pay restoration
Our pay has been eroded by upwards of 16.8% since 2008 when compared with RPI inflation. This is a huge loss to our pay and our living standards that fails to reflect the responsibility, training, and sacrifices required of our work. It’s causing a workforce crisis as fewer and fewer trainees choose to stay in Northern Ireland to train.
The strike action we took in 2024 secured us an average 13.6% pay rise on the previous year. This, alongside the 24/25 DDRB recommendation uplift of 6% + £1000 and the 2025/26 pay uplift of 4% +£750 has shown some meaningful progress towards full pay restoration, as the graph below details. However, there is still some way to go.
Our contract, our future
As part of the pay deal for resident doctors that they voted to accept in January 2025, NIRDC and the Department of Health in Northern Ireland (DoH NI) have commenced discussions on negotiating a new contract of employment for residents. Initial planning meetings are currently taking place and once these conclude contract negotiations will commence.
Read more about our contract negotiations.
What we're asking for
With better pay, we will incentivise more doctors who studied in Northern Ireland to stay and doctors outside of Northern Ireland to come and work here. With more doctors, our rotas will be less intense, and we will all have more time for training.
We are asking the Department of Health, Employers, and our Assembly to do the following:
This means:
- Full pay restoration for resident doctors in Northern Ireland to 2008 levels.
Read more on pay erosion to see why we're calling for it.
Trusts to commit to complying with the BMA fatigue and facilities charter, with a focus on urgent introduction of safe working limits to fix rotas.
Here's why:
- Resident doctors in Northern Ireland do not have the same rest protections and rota design requirements as elsewhere in the UK. 49% of trainees in Northern Ireland reported working above their rostered hours – higher than the UK average of 42%.
- Exhausting, understaffed rotas impacts on training time required for career development. Significantly more trainees in Northern Ireland (38%) have reported that rota gaps were not being sufficiently dealt with than in the UK as a whole (29%).
Introduction of a trainee guarantee for access to scheduled training, including study leave for F1s.
Here's why:
- Workload pressures are causing the quality of training to deteriorate significantly, particularly for foundation trainees. Almost half (46%) of trainees in Northern Ireland reported significant increase in workload intensity on dayshifts and on nightshifts (20%).
- Lack of training opportunities impacts trainees’ career progression, creating more staffing gaps in higher grades. 21% of trainees in Northern Ireland reported a lack of protected time for completion of all the mandatory training requirements of their post. This was higher than elsewhere in the UK (17%)
- Training protections will be essential to tackling our waiting list crisis.
Commitment from the Department of Health to entering contract negotiations on a reformed resident doctor contract that improves workplace protections, facilities, working hours and recognition.
Here's why:
- The existing contract does not match the reality of training in 2023.
- A new contract is needed that creates a good working environment conducive to training to incentivise resident doctors to stay in training in Northern Ireland.
What you can do
Make sure your details are up to date
It’s vital that we have up-to-date contact details so that we can keep you informed about contract negotiations, ensure you have a vote in any pay or contract referendum, and contact you quickly if a ballot for strike action becomes necessary. Staying connected helps us stay organised and maintain the leverage required to secure a positive outcome.
BMA strike fund - donate now
A strike fund is available to subsidise members in serious financial difficulty who otherwise couldn’t afford to take part in any future rounds of strike action.
The strike fund is supported through voluntary donations to make available to doctors in need.
Keep up to date with our campaign on the NIRDC X (Twitter) and Instagram accounts.
Become a pay activist
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Help build a team at your workplace that drives our campaign locally.
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Share your ideas to help BMA Northern Ireland develop our campaign.
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Recruit new BMA members to strengthen our voice calling for full pay restoration.
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Join or start local events, meetings and activities in support of the campaign.
Campaign resources
Download a range of campaign materials to share on social media and in your communal work and rest areas.
We're here to stand up for your rights, support you in the workplace and champion the medical profession.