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SENIOR doctors in NHS England became the latest public sector workers yesterday to weigh up industrial action after a straw poll revealed 80 per cent support for a dispute over pay.
The Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) will launch a full ballot amid a groundswell of anger over Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s decision to snub the pay review body’s recommended 1 per cent across-the-board rise.
An emergency meeting of the union’s executive took the decision after eight in 10 members indicated they would back action on a 40 per cent turnout.
HCSA general secretary Eddie Saville said the result was “an overwhelming response” that showed how unhappy doctors were with the government’s decision.
He warned: “Morale is on a downward spiral, motivation is waning and many doctors are feeling stressed and undervalued.”
Union president Professor John Schofield said: “Doctors have only very rarely indicated any willingness to undertake industrial action, and it demonstrates the strength of feeling within our profession.”
