AAC panels are legally constituted around consultant members, and consultant members will be on Christmas Day cover on 25–26 November. Whether your interview happens, who will be sitting on the panel when it does, and what to say when the dispute comes up in the room.Enter your text here...

The first consultant strike dates of this dispute land in the middle of consultant recruitment season. An Advisory Appointments Committee, the panel that interviews candidates and decides which of them are suitable for a consultant post, is constituted in law around consultant members. During the walkout on 25 and 26 November, consultants in England will provide "Christmas Day" cover: emergency and immediately life-saving care only. Sitting an interview panel is neither of those things. If your AAC is booked in the last week of November, the dispute reaches your interview directly.

The British Medical Association's consultants committee announced the dates on 26 October: action from 06:59 on Tuesday 25 November to 06:59 on Thursday 27 November, covering both full working days (BMA media centre, BBC). Recruitment teams at trusts are already moving, merging or cancelling panels scheduled for that window.