Doctors vote to end historic pay dispute

Junior doctors have voted to accept the government’s latest pay offer – bringing to an end a bitter dispute which lasted nearly two years and saw 44 days of strikes.

They voted by two to one to accept the offer, with nearly 70 per cent turnout in the British Medical Association ballot.

The deal will give them an additional 4.05 per cent on top of their 2023-24 pay rise; and an 8 per cent average increase in 2024-25, as announced in July.

Overall, the deal amounts to an average 22.3 per cent rise over two years — but many juniors say their inflation-adjusted pay remains some 20 per cent lower than in 2008.

The historic dispute saw strikes begin in March 2023, and the final action take place in early July, on the eve of the general election.

Following the result, junior doctor leaders warned there would be “consequences” if next year’s pay deal “disappoints”, raising the prospect of further industrial action. 

Joint junior doctors committee chairs Robert Laurenson and Vivek Trivedi said: “The campaign is not over. This deal marks the end of 15 years of pay erosion with the beginning of two years of modest above inflation pay rises…

“[Wes] 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 needs strike over pay in future. However, in the event the pay review body disappoints, he needs to be prepared for the consequences.”

The BMA had backed the deal which it started negotiating shortly after the new health and social care secretary took office. As well as the pay uplift, it pointed to the government’s commitment to streamline the way juniors report additional hours, to reform the current system of rotational training and review the training bottlenecks in specialty training. The government has also agreed to refer to “resident doctors” – rather than junior doctors – in future, a move suggested by the BMA last year.

Mr Streeting said the strike had been “the most devastating dispute” in the NHS’s history, and said: “Things should never have been allowed to get this bad”.

NHS England CEO Amanda Pritchard 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 everyday to provide expert, compassionate care to patients.”

The doctors are expected to get the pay rise in November’s salary, with the 4.05 per cent backdated to April 2023.