The British Medical Association has voted in favour of industrial action in protest against reforms to the NHS pension scheme.
Doctors will withdraw all services except urgent and emergency care for 24 hours from on 21 June, with possible further days of action to follow.
According to a series of ballots which closed yesterday, 79% of doctors voted in favour of action short of a strike, while 63% voted in favour of a full strike.
Negotiations over reform of the scheme have been difficult with the government offering public sector unions its final deal in December.
NHS Employers has claimed constructive conversations with senior NHS managers have been problematic due to their own vested interests in the pension scheme.
It proposed that the NHS scheme moves to a career average rather than final salary structure, with a normal retirement age equal to the state retirement age.
However, the government offered concessions in its most recent offer, including an option for members to draw down some of their pension during partial retirement, and to retire and then return to the scheme.
The government has also offered NHS scheme members the option to make additional contributions in order to reduce their early retirement penalty.
However, the BMA has rejected the offer, claiming the NHS scheme currently delivers a positive cashflow of £2bn a year to the Treasury, and that staff members have already accepted responsibility for any future increases in costs due to improved longevity.
It said in a statement: "The latest changes will see doctors paying up to 14.5 per cent of their salaries in pension contributions; twice as much as some other public sector staff on a similar salary in order to receive a similar pension. They will also have to work longer to receive their pension; up to 68 for younger doctors."
BMA council chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum said: "This clear mandate for action reflects just how let down doctors feel by the government's unwillingness to find a fairer approach to the latest pension changes and its refusal to acknowledge the major reforms of 2008 that made the NHS scheme sustainable in the long term.
"This is the first industrial action doctors have taken since 1975. We have consistently argued that the government should reconsider its position, and even at this stage we would much prefer to negotiate a fairer deal than to take action."
