Don't just read Exeter Observer  Upgrade to paid

NEWS

Four day strike by consultants and junior doctors at Royal Devon NHS Trust

Industrial action affecting almost all planned care marks first time consultants and junior doctors have taken strike action together.

Martin Redfern

Consultants and junior doctors are holding a combined four day strike at the Royal Devon NHS Trust from 7am on Tuesday 19 September.

Consultants are on strike from 7am on Tuesday 19 September to 7am on Thursday 21 September and junior doctors are on strike from 7am on Wednesday 20 September to 7am on Saturday 23 September.

This is the first time consultants and junior doctors have taken strike action together and will affect almost all planned care.

The industrial action is part of an ongoing national dispute between the government and health service unions about pay and employment conditions and is now in its tenth month.

More more than 885,000 inpatient and outpatient appointments have so far been rescheduled.

The strikes are taking place during a government consultation on its plans to impose new regulations which would allow employers to compel doctors and nurses to work during industrial action under threat of dismissal.

Consultants and junior doctors are again expected to strike from 2 to 4 October, alongside members of the Royal College of Radiographers.

Royal Devon and Exeter hospital

The British Medical Association (BMA), the professional association and trade union that represents UK doctors, is seeking a settlement for doctors in England that is similar to the agreement reached in Scotland for junior doctors.

It said: “Strikes could be avoided if the government was to present us with a credible offer that we could put to our members.

“It is essential that we can reach agreement, not only to bring an end to the current dispute and prevent further strike action as we head into winter but to ensure that the NHS can recruit and retain the highly experienced staff that it needs.”

Subscribe to The Exeter Digest - Exeter Observer's essential free email newsletter

Your personal information will be processed and stored in accordance with our Privacy Policy

NHS advice is to attend planned appointments during the strikes as normal unless you have been informed otherwise, and to refrain from calling to confirm your appointment is taking place.

Dr Nigel Acheson, Chief Medical Officer for NHS Devon, said: “Teams across the NHS in Devon are doing their best to prepare for the upcoming industrial action but these strikes are set to be the most difficult yet in terms of impact on the day-to-day running of our services and on patients.

He added: “People suffering a life-threatening emergency should not hesitate to contact 999 or attend one of our emergency departments.

“However, I ask everyone else to carefully consider which service could help them best during the strike periods. 111 online is available for advice and your own GP or local pharmacy will be able to provide a range of other care.”

Don't just read Exeter Observer

Exeter Observer is a new kind of news organisation. Independent, accountable and community-owned with a non-profit model that serves the public sphere.

Lots of our readers think Exeter needs the kind of local news we provide so they're backing us, not just with warm words but by chipping in.

Every penny we receive is spent on producing and publishing news, features and investigations and supporting our city's cultural and community life.

But it's not enough to keep us publishing. We need more people to contribute to our running costs so we can break even.

136 of the 300 paying subscribers we need have signed up to support our work from less than £2/week.

Don't just read Exeter Observer. Join them today.

Upgrade to paid

More stories
Illustrative view of proposed co-living blocks from Heavitree Road

Heavitree Road police station student accommodation and “co-living” scheme consultation extended

Developers revise application for full planning permission for 813-bed seven-block complex submitted in May as similar proposals proliferate across city centre.

Boneyard arcade games

Unique retro games arcade to create new Sidwell Street venue after long search

Boneyard arcade seeking permission to change use of empty Brighthouse retail unit after making way for “co-living” block at previous Red Lion Lane location.

Proposed revised Mary Arches Bartholomew Street East co-living block elevation

Mary Arches “co-living” developer resists “miniscule” room size criticisms as design revisions prompt further consultation

Changes include increased building footprints and removal of twelve rooms to provide eleven communal kitchens – between residents of 297 studios – while gates obstruct pedestrian thoroughfare and site’s historic setting and significance essentially ignored.

September 2025 permitted replacement scheme west elevation

Council denies data and contrives criteria to dismiss community balance concerns in third King Billy student block approval

Exeter Observer analysis finds more students living in city centre than residents as council bid to include PBSA in housing delivery figures weakens local planning policy – but does not remove it from decision-making altogether.

, updated

Grace Road Fields in March

Botched consultation restarted on sale of 8.5 acres of Riverside Valley Park green space

Council land disposal to include rights to lay underground distribution pipework across River Exe floodplain following “low-to-zero carbon” Grace Road Fields heat plant planning approval in face of Environment Agency sequential test concerns.

On Our Radar
Jo Eades

FRIDAY 31 OCTOBER 2025

Spork! Dead Poets Slam 2025

Halloween spoken-word special featuring Jo Eades and Samuel L. Cohen with a £100 cash prize poetry slam.

EXETER PHOENIX

Carmen with rose graphic

SATURDAY 8 & SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2025

Carmen

Exeter Opera Group performs Bizet’s tale of a free-spirited woman and her passionate and destructive love affair with a soldier.

EXETER CASTLE

Exeter Philharmonic Choir

SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2025

The Weather Book

Exeter Philharmonic Choir performs a new weather-inspired work plus pieces by Brahms, Poulenc and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

EXETER CATHEDRAL