Consultants plan to strike from 6.59am on 25 November to 6.59am on 27 November. The Royal Sussex's trust says all appointments are going ahead for now.

Senior hospital doctors in England plan to strike for 48 hours from Wednesday 25 November, and that includes consultants at Brighton’s hospitals. The walkout runs from 6.59am on 25 November to 6.59am on Friday 27 November, the British Medical Association said (BMA, 26 October).

University Hospitals Sussex, which runs the Royal Sussex County Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital, says nothing has been cancelled yet. “All appointments and procedures are currently going ahead as scheduled. If anything changes, we will contact you directly,” the trust said (UHSussex, 6 November).

Overview

  • When: 6.59am on Wednesday 25 November to 6.59am on Friday 27 November.
  • Who: consultant doctors in England, members of the BMA.
  • Your appointment: going ahead unless the trust contacts you, it says.
  • Emergencies: the BMA says emergency cover will continue, “similar to how hospitals are staffed on Christmas Day”.

Why consultants are striking

It would be the first strike by consultants in England since 2023. The BMA says its members secured a mandate for industrial action in a ballot in July.

The union’s case, as set out in its announcement:

  • consultants have had real-terms pay cuts of 25% over 17 years
  • the Government proposed a 2.4% rise for 2027/28, which the BMA calls a real-terms cut
  • it wants more protected time for teaching and improving services, shorter standard hours and better recognition for the hardest out-of-hours work

The BMA says the strike can be avoided if the Health Secretary commits to “adequately funded formal negotiations” on pay and conditions. Formal strike notices were still to follow when it made the announcement.

What it means for you

The trust’s advice is to turn up as planned unless you hear otherwise. It says it will contact patients directly if an appointment or procedure has to move.

Hospitals may be busier and waits longer over the two days, the trust says. For health advice that is not an emergency, it points patients to NHS 111 online or the local Sussex services finder. In a medical emergency, call 999.

The trust also runs the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, about 14 miles north of Brighton, and Worthing, St Richard’s and Southlands hospitals. Its notice covers all of them.

We will update this story if the strike is called off or the trust changes its advice.