The BMA’s junior doctors committee has accepted the Government’s pay offer, putting an end to strike action which started almost two years ago.
The union said that 66% of junior doctors in England – including GP registrars – voted in favour of the deal, which will increase pay by 22.3% over two years.
The offer includes a backdated pay rise of 4.05% for 2023/24, which is on top of the existing increase of between 8.8% and 10.3%, and for the current financial year, junior doctors will receive an average 8% increase via the pay review body’s recommendation of 6%, as well as a consolidated payment of £1,000.
GP registrars who are on the 2023/24 or should be on the 2024/25 Flexible Pay Premia rates will also get back pay for FPP, which will increase the amount of back pay received.
The deal also includes reforms to the exception reporting system, which the union said will make it ‘much easier’ for GP registrars to submit exception reports and receive payment or time off in lieu when working beyond contracted hours, ‘without the risk of affecting professional relationships with GP trainers’.
Junior doctors have been in dispute with the Government over real-terms pay cuts since October 2022, and have since taken 44 days of strike action.
Junior doctors committee co-chairs Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said: ‘It should never have taken so long to get here, but we have shown what can be accomplished with our determination and with a government willing to simply sit down and talk realistically about a path to pay restoration. One strike was one strike too many.
‘This deal marks the end of 15 years of pay erosion with the beginning of two years of modest above inflation pay rises.
‘There is still a long way to go, with doctors remaining 20.8% in real terms behind where we were in 2008.
‘Mr Streeting has acknowledged our pay has fallen behind and has talked about a journey to pay restoration. 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.’
Outside the pay negotiations, the Government has agreed that from 18 September ‘junior doctors’ across the UK will be known as ‘resident doctors’ to ‘better reflect their expertise’.
This follows a motion to the BMA’s annual policy making conference in 2023 when doctors voted in favour of a name change.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said: ’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.
‘Things should never have been allowed to get this bad. That’s why I made ending the strikes a priority, and we negotiated an end to them in just three weeks.
‘I am pleased that our offer has been accepted, ending the strikes ahead of looming winter pressures on the NHS.
‘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.’
A version of this story was first published on our sister title Pulse.
