Junior doctors reach improved pay deal to increase wages by 20 per cent over two years
29 July 2024, 12:39 | Updated: 29 July 2024, 12:41
Junior doctors have reached a pay deal with ministers which could see their wages increase by 20 per cent across two years.
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The British Medical Association’s junior doctors have recommended that its members accept the offer, which includes a backdated pay rise of 4.05 per cent, in addition to an increase between 8.8 and 10.3 per cent, The Times reports.
Junior doctors will then be given a further pay rise of six per cent for 2024-2025, in addition to an extra £1,000 cash boost (seven to nine per cent overall).
Across the two years, junior doctors will see their wages rise by around 20 per cent - 15 per cent less than the 35 per cent they had asked for.
The deal is expected to cost £1 billion in total, with the Government keen to avert any form of industrial action across all sectors.
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has repeatedly said ending the strikes would be key to bringing down the waiting lists. There are currently 7.6 million people on the waiting lists at the time of writing.
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Meanwhile, the Government is also expected to give NHS workers, including nurses, a pay rise of 5.5 per cent, in line with recommendations from an independent pay review body.
Teachers will also be given an above-inflation pay rise, it is understood.
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It comes as the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, prepares to lay bare to Parliament and the nation the state of the public finances.
The Government has insisted the state of the nation’s finances are worse than they anticipated, despite institutions such as the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) claiming the books were already open to analyse.
But Ms Reeves will tell Parliament in a speech today that the previous Tory government had covered up the dire state of the UK economy.
She will also announce the date of her first Budget, which is due later this year.
Ministry of Defence sites and unused NHS site are set to be offered to try and fill what Ms Reeves has claimed is a £20bn funding hole that needs to be filled, according to the Telegraph.
The newly-installed Labour Treasury chief will make the speech while confirming the findings of her departments' spending audit into previous administrations.
But some fear that the speech will mark a departure from Labour promises not to raise taxes.
She is also expected to announce the formation of the Office of Value for Money to "challenge government to deliver better value for money for taxpayers".
Labour will also be worried by the prospect of facing fresh strikes in the coming days, this time by GPs who are protesting against their budget.
Family doctors who run GP surgeries will vote today on whether they reduce the care they provide, including by limiting the number of patients they see every day.
The British Medical Association (BMA) launched the vote in protest against the previous government increasing their budget by 1.9% for this year.
Doctors are expected to vote in favour of taking industrial action, without partaking in full-scale strikes.
