Junior doctors in England are set to strike for five days starting next month – part of a long-running dispute over pay.
The strike is set to run from 7am on 27 June to 2 July.
It means the dispute will be held during the general election campaign, with polling day on 4 July.
Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chairs of the British Medical Association’s junior doctors committee, said: “We made clear to the government that we would strike unless discussions ended in a credible pay offer.
“For more than 18 months we have been asking Rishi Sunak to put forward proposals to restore the pay junior doctors have lost over the past 15 years – equal to more than a quarter in real terms.
“When we entered mediation with government this month we did so under the impression that we had a functioning government that would soon be making an offer.
“Clearly no offer is now forthcoming. Junior doctors are fed up and out of patience.”
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Referring to the strike taking place during the election period, they said: “If during this campaign he makes such a public commitment that is acceptable to the BMA’s junior doctors committee, then no strikes need go ahead.”
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