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Junior doctors in Wales have voted overwhelmingly for strike action in a dispute over pay.

Doctors’ union the British Medical Association balloted junior doctors between November 6 and December 18, with 98% voting in favour of a three-day strike starting on January 15. Of the doctors eligible to vote, 65% responded to the ballot.

BMA Cymru Wales argue that junior doctors in Wales have experienced a pay cut of 29.6% in real terms over the last 15 years.

The BMA has rejected the 5% uplift for consultants, junior, and specialty and associate specialist (SAS) doctors. Consultants and SAS doctors agreed to vote on strike action earlier this year, but dates for the ballot has yet to be announced.

The 5% in Wales is the lowest pay increase of the UK nations. In England doctors were offered a 6% rise in July. The Doctors and Dentist Pay Review Body had recommended a 6% increase.

According to the BMA, the 72-hour full walkout could potentially see more than 3,000 doctors withdraw their labour from Welsh hospitals and GP surgeries across Wales.

In a joint statement, Dr Oba Babs-Osibodu and Dr Peter Fahey co-chairs of BMA Cymru Wales’ junior doctors committee said the vote showed the strength of feeling and that junior doctors were “frustrated, in despair, and angry”.

They said: “A doctor starting their career in Wales will earn as little as £13.65 an hour and for that they could be performing lifesaving procedures and taking on huge levels of responsibility.

“We aren’t asking for a pay rise. We are asking for our pay to be restored in line with inflation back to 2008 levels, when we began to receive pay cuts in real terms. Pay needs to be fair and competitive with other healthcare systems across the world to retain and recruit doctors and NHS staff to provide much-needed care.

“On top of this junior doctors are experiencing worsening conditions and so doctors are now looking to leave Wales to develop their careers for better pay and a better quality of life elsewhere. 

“This is not a decision that has been made lightly. No doctor wants to take industrial action, but we have been given no choice. Doctors are already voting with their feet and leaving the NHS and we are in a vicious cycle of crippling staffing shortages and worsening patient care.”

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “It is disappointing that doctors have voted for industrial action but we understand their strength of feeling about the 5% pay offer.

“While we wish to address their pay restoration ambitions, our offer is at the limits of the finances available to us and reflects the position reached with the other health unions for this year. Without additional funding from the UK Government, we are not in a position to currently offer any more. We will continue to press them to pass on the funding necessary for full and fair pay rises for public sector workers.

“We remain committed to working in social partnership with the British Medical Association and NHS Employers and we will jointly ensure that patient safety is protected during industrial action.”