Nearly two years after its pay dispute began, the BMA will put a pay offer to junior doctors in England after negotiations with the new Government.
If accepted by members, the total pay uplift across the two years of the dispute will be 22.3% on average.
The pay offer consists of an additional 4.05% for the pay year 2023/24 on top of the average 8.8% previously awarded, taking last year’s pay uplift to an average of 13.2%. This will be backdated to April 2023.
Separately, the recommendation of the pay review body – the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration (DDRB) - and subsequent Government award for 2024/25 announced today would give junior doctors an average 8% increase across junior doctor grades.
Included in the deal are commitments from the Government to work with the BMA to streamline the way in which junior doctors report when they have worked additional hours to ensure they are paid for the work they do, and to reform the current system of junior doctor training and rotational placements, taking into account training bottlenecks. The BMA and DHSC have also agreed to change the name of “junior doctors” to “resident doctors” from September of this year to better reflect their expertise.
As part of the deal the Government says it “acknowledges concerns raised by the BMA and other parties that the medical profession is not as attractive a career prospect as it once was” and asks the DDRB to consider in its annual recommendations the overall reward package and career progression for junior doctors “to ensure that medicine is an attractive and rewarding career choice to deliver our consultants and GPs of the future”.
The BMA’s junior doctors committee (JDC) has chosen to recommend that members accept it.
JDC co-chairs Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said:
“We are announcing that almost two years into our dispute we have received an offer from the Government that our committee thinks merits consideration by our membership. It should never have taken so long to get here, but this offer shows what can be achieved when both parties enter negotiations in a constructive spirit.
“This offer does not go all the way to restoring the pay lost by junior doctors over the last decade and a half. However, we have always said that we did not expect to get there in one go. This offer, combined with the recommendation of the pay review body today, changes the current trajectory of our pay, even though there is further to go yet.
“We are recommending that members vote for the deal. We believe that this is the best offer available at this moment in time and that the inclusion of the additional reforms make the package a good step forward for our profession, acknowledging there is still more work to be done in the future.
“We recognise the speed and effort put into this round of negotiations which we believe shows the beginning of a Government that is learning to treat doctors with more respect. There is a catastrophic NHS workforce crisis that needs addressing and they at least appear to recognise that fixing pay must be part of the solution.
“The last 20 months have shown what happens when a Government refuses to engage with the reality of real-terms pay cuts. That has to stop now. This deal is a start: it means we can begin to restore our value and return to a strong workforce and high quality patient care. There is still a way to go but this Government has shown it can learn from mistakes of the past. We recommend members vote yes.”
The details of the referendum for members will be announced shortly. Should it be approved, the current dispute will be concluded and the mandate for strike action in England will end.
Ends
The proposed changes to junior doctors’ pay under the offer are as follows:
Junior Doctor 2016 contract
