Junior doctors in England vote to accept government pay deal worth 22.3% after two-year dispute

16 September 2024, 19:02 | Updated: 16 September 2024, 19:32

Junior doctors have voted to accept a Government pay deal worth of 22.3% per cent on average.

Two thirds of the (British Medial Association) BMA's members have voted in favour of the agreement.

They are going to be called resident doctors in the future to reflect their experience.

Junior doctors have taken 44 days of industrial action since October 2022 in their long-running dispute with the Government.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he is "pleased" the BMA has accepted the deal.

The BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs have said: "It should never have taken so long to get here".

A statement to media said: "The BMA's junior doctors committee (JDC) in England has accepted the Government's pay offer, with 66% of junior doctors voting in favour of the deal."

The statement added: "Outside the pay negotiations, the Government has agreed that from September 18 '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."

The BMA 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.

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"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.

"The resident doctors committee, as we will be called, will be using the next months to prepare to build on their success so that future cohorts of doctors never again need to see the kind of pay cuts we have.

"We thank all doctors who have seen us through to this point by standing on picket lines and fighting for their worth.

"The campaign is not over, but we, and they, can be proud of how far we have come."

'Pleased'

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he is "pleased" the British Medical Association (BMA) has accepted the Government's pay deal.

He 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."