Junior doctors in England have voted to accept a government pay deal worth 22.3 per cent on average over two years, the British Medical Association (BMA) has announced.
The offer was made during Labour’s first month in office, and brings to an end an 18-month dispute which saw 11 separate strikes.
The BMA said that 66 per cent of junior doctors – who are qualified physicians, often have several years of experience and make up a large share of the medical staff – voted in favour of the government pay offer.
The deal includes an average pay increase of 4.05 per cent for junior doctors to be backdated to last April, which comes on top of the existing pay award already received for 2023-24, worth an average of 9 per cent.
Each part of the pay scale will also be uplifted by 6 per cent plus £1000 with an effective date of 1 April 2024, as recommended by the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB).
The deal means a doctor starting foundational training in the NHS will now receive a base pay of £36,600, up from about £32,400.
The BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs, Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, welcomed the news, but warned that “there is still a long way to go”, with pay remaining below in real terms where it had been in 2008.
“Mr Streeting has acknowledged our pay has fallen behind and has talked about a journey to pay restoration,” said the co-chairs. “He believes the independent pay review body is the right vehicle for this, and if he is right then no doctor need strike over pay in future.
“However, in the event the pay review body disappoints, he needs to be prepared for the consequences.”
In 2022, the union announced a demand of pay increases to restore junior doctors’ earnings to the real term levels of 2008.
A subsequent ballot saw more than 98 per cent of respondents support strike action, and the BMA subsequently announced a 72-hour strike starting 13 March 2023.
Ten further rounds of industrial action followed which resulted in the postponement of more than one million appointments and operations.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting entered formal talks with junior doctors in the first few days of entering government in bid to end the strikes. The deal is an improvement on the 17 per cent pay rise the Scottish Government offered to junior doctors last year, which the BMA accepted.
Mr Streeting said he is “pleased” the BMA accepted the deal, adding that negotiations had not taken place with the previous government’s ministers since March.
“We inherited a broken NHS, the most devastating dispute in the health service’s history, and negotiations hadn’t taken place with the previous ministers since March,” said the Health Secretary. “This marks the necessary first step in our mission to cut waiting lists, reform the broken health service, and make it fit for the future.”
Responding to the deal, the Conservatives warned the Government not to set a precedent by awarding strikes with “bumper pay rises”.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “We are pleased that the junior doctors have accepted a deal.
“However, this inflation-busting pay rise has been handed over by the new Labour Government with zero conditions attached – including no requirement for improving productivity for our health service or increasing value for the taxpayer – and also comes as Labour strip 10 million pensioners of their winter fuel payments to fund it.
“This new Government should be very careful in setting the precedent that strikes will be awarded with bumper pay rises at the expense of some of the most vulnerable in our society. We will hold them to account for this.”
As well as the pay deal, from Wednesday the term junior doctor will be dropped in favour of resident doctors, the BMA’s preferred term, which it says better reflects experience and expertise.
Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, said junior doctors voting to accept the government pay deal provides “welcome certainty”.
She said: “After unprecedented periods of industrial action, this agreement is excellent news for patients, doctors and the wider NHS. It provides welcome certainty particularly as we head into what we know will be a very challenging winter.
“The NHS is nothing without junior doctors – they make up almost half of the medical workforce, working across a wide range of services every day to provide expert, compassionate care to patients.
“It is absolutely right that they feel valued and that we do everything within our power in the NHS to improve their working lives.
“We will continue to listen and act on the concerns of the medical workforce, and we will work closely with the Government and the BMA to implement the actions agreed as part of this deal.”
Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said “health leaders will breathe a massive sigh of relief” to know the pay dispute has come to a resolution.
He said: “The last thing our members wanted was the threat of more strikes over what is expected to be a very difficult winter.
“Industrial action has had a huge impact on the NHS over the last two years, with more than 1.5 million appointments and operations being cancelled at an estimated cost to the health service of around £3 billion.
“While there is still a long way to go to address all the issues raised by resident doctors, including quality of work and education and their rotational system, we hope that discussions can move forward now pay has been agreed.
“We look forward to working with the BMA, colleges, the General Medical Council (GMC) and NHS England to find resolutions to these and taking forward the non-pay parts of the agreement, including for example the changes to exception reporting.”
