Dr Helen NearyUnion

Biography

Dr Helen Neary is a consultant anaesthetist based in Liverpool and co-chair of the British Medical Association's UK Consultants Committee, a position she took up in September 2024 alongside co-chair Dr Shanu Datta, having previously served as deputy co-chair. She is described as the first woman to lead the BMA's consultants committee. The BMA is a professional association and trade union representing and negotiating on behalf of all doctors in the UK. Dr Neary has been a prominent public voice on consultant pay restoration, arguing that real-terms pay for consultants has fallen substantially since 2008/09 and calling on successive governments to reverse this decline. She has also spoken publicly on patient safety issues such as 'corridor care', warning that treating patients in inappropriate spaces has become standard practice even outside winter pressures.

References

1. 1.Dr Helen Neary and Dr Shanu Datta elected co-chairs of BMA's UK consultants committee – BMA media centre — Establishes her election as co-chair (first woman to lead the committee), her previous role as deputy co-chair, and her base as a consultant anaesthetist in Liverpool
2. 2.BMA consultants committee UK overview — Confirms her current role as co-chair of the UK Consultants Committee alongside Shanu Datta
3. 3.Public sound alarm at loss of senior doctor expertise as consultants vote for industrial action in England – BMA media centre — Documents her public statements on consultant pay, workforce retention, and the 2026 industrial action ballot result
4. 4.RCP survey is further evidence that 'corridor care' is the norm, says BMA – BMA media centre — Evidences her public commentary on corridor care and patient safety

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Stated areas of expertise

• Consultant pay and pay restoration
• NHS workforce retention
• Consultant industrial action
• Corridor care and patient safety
• Clinical leadership
• Anaesthetics

Notable achievements

• Elected co-chair of the BMA's UK Consultants Committee in 2024, becoming the first woman to lead the committee, having been elected unopposed alongside Dr Shanu Datta. Source ↗
• Led BMA consultants committee calls for industrial action ballot in England in 2026, following a 4% pay uplift judged sub-inflationary, with 67% of responding consultants indicating willingness to strike. Source ↗
• Issued joint BMA statement initiating a formal ballot of senior doctors in England for industrial action in March 2026 after government pay discussions were deemed insufficient. Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “in the short term, ministers must ask themselves whether they can afford to have all hospital doctors with a mandate to take industrial action at the same time”

  co-chair of the BMA's consultants committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Three hospital doctors’ groups threaten to coordinate strike action in England ↗

• “This is a clear message from consultants in England that they are not willing to tolerate the continued attack on their pay and professional value and that, if necessary, they are willing to act.”

  co-chair of the BMA's consultants committee · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Consultant doctors in England vote for NHS strikes over pay and working week ↗

Source references

1. Three hospital doctors’ groups threaten to coordinate strike action in Englandtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. Consultant doctors in England vote for NHS strikes over pay and working weektheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Xhttps://x.com/helennry7published here ↗
• Staff pagehttps://www.bma.org.uk/what-we-do/committees/consultants-committee/consultants-committee-uk-overview
• Press office emailhttps://www.bma.org.uk/bma-media-centre

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.