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Doctors in England have announced a ballot on strike action less than a year after agreeing a pay deal with the UK government.
The resident doctors — formerly known as junior doctors — work in GP practices and hospitals and are represented by the British Medical Association. The BMA is demanding pay rises of up to 35 per cent by 2027 to make up for below-inflation salary increases over the past 15 years.
Last year they agreed a pay rise of 22 per cent over two years, in a deal with the government to end a wave of strikes.
The deal included a backdated pay rise of about 4 per cent for 2023-24, on top of a 9 per cent increase already offered, as well as a rise of 6 per cent in 2024-25 recommended by an independent pay review body.
But the issue of “pay restoration” remains at the heart of a dispute that led to 11 strikes over 18 months across the NHS.
On Friday, the BMA said three weeks had passed since they warned the government of “the consequences of the absence of a reasonable, timely pay offer”.
Co-chairs of BMA’s resident doctors’ committee, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, said they had met health secretary Wes Streeting and “made clear that all he would have to do to avoid the need for a ballot was pledge to negotiate a fair deal that moved us towards pay restoration by 2027.
“Unfortunately, he could not make this commitment. Resident doctors are not going to be ignored. We are going to stand up for our value to the NHS and to patients, and we are going to fight to stay on the path set out for us by last year’s deal: restoration of our pay to the level of 2008.”
The ballot on industrial action will open on May 27 and end on July 7.
The Department of Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
