The BMA is asking the Government to discuss how to improve its pay offer to senior doctors after members voted against it.   

BMA consultants in England voted 51.1 per cent against the offer in a referendum that took place between December 14 and January 23.

The BMA’s consultants committee has therefore rejected the offer, but is giving the Government an opportunity to improve it to a point that may be acceptable to members.   

The deal offered was worth an extra 4.95 per cent, on average, in basic pay from this month - and would have come on top of the 6 per cent rise granted in April.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said she was disappointed that the "fair and reasonable" offer had been rejected by members.

Dr Helen Neary, chair of the BMA's Mersey consultants committee said:  “Patients deserve to be cared for by senior doctors who are valued and rewarded for their years of experience. 

"The Government still has a chance to show us we are valued and that ministers will listen to our asks.

"The NHS is in crisis here, and across the country – not just because it is winter – and everything that can be done to retain doctors and the skills and expertise they bring, must be." 

Junior Doctors are still balloting over whether to extend their strike ballot. 

READ MORE:'Poverty is a political choice' says Carlisle Green Party candidate

More than 150 appointments were postponed at the North Cumbria Integrated Care Trust (NCIC)  due to the junior doctors' strike this month, new figures show.

The six-day walkout from January 3 to January 9 was the longest strike in NHS history, with the British Medical Association demanding a 35 per cent pay rise. The Government called this "not affordable".

173 appointments were at NCIC, with Thursday, January 4 seeing the highest number of postponed appointments, at 55.

NHS leaders warned the impact caused by the strike could last for months.