Junior doctors could be planning a new strike, despite Labour Health Secretary Wes Streeting offering a staggering pay deal that could see their earnings rise by 22.3 per cent over two years.
The pay rise was thought to end months of crippling strikes, but a leaked video suggests more strikes are planned.
The video shows a British Medical Association (BMA) employee telling a group of junior doctors about plans to “bank” these initial gains, build on them, and then start again in April 2025,” according to the report. Express newspaper.
Dame Priti Patel says Labour is showing its “true colours” and fears unions will extract even more public money from Keir Starmer.
She said the images showed that “the Labour Party is, and always has been, a party run by its unionist bosses, the barons”.
The British Medical Association’s (BMA) junior doctors’ committee has reportedly agreed to put the offer to its members. If accepted, it will end months of crippling strikes over pay.
Junior doctors are planning to strike again, despite Labour Health Secretary Wes Streeting (pictured) offering a staggering pay deal that could see their earnings rise by 22.3 per cent over two years.
The BMA’s call to action comes despite an admission that some members are “tired” of having carried out the previous “11 rounds of strikes”.
The terms offered by Wes Streeting would mean an increase of between 8.1 per cent and 10.3 per cent for the next financial year, as well as a retrospective increase of 4.05 per cent for 2023/24.
This is on top of an existing 6 per cent pay rise for 2024/2025, topped up by a £1,000 payment. This equates to a pay rise of between 7 per cent and 9 per cent.
The total package represents a pay rise of around 22.3 per cent, which could cost the taxpayer around £1bn, MailOnline has learned.
Junior doctors in their first year of training currently earn a basic salary of £32,400, while those with three years’ experience earn £43,900 and senior doctors £63,100.
BMA members are expected to vote on the proposals on Monday 19 August.
Wes Streeting welcomed the agreement with the BMA, saying it would “finally pave the way for an end to the strike which has caused untold suffering to patients and staff”.
Responding to the leaked clip, a junior doctor told the Express: “The BMA doesn’t want to accept the deal but they know members are losing interest.”
But the co-chairs of the BMA’s Young Doctors Committee, Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, said they recommend members vote “yes” to the offer and hope they can “start to develop their form here”.
Under the proposed pay deal, junior doctors would see a rise of between 8.1 per cent and 10.3 per cent for the next financial year, as well as a retrospective increase of 4.05 per cent for 2023/24.
Junior doctors in their first year now have a basic salary of £32,300, while those with three years’ experience earn £43,900. Senior doctors earn £63,100.
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The offer followed months of failed talks with ministers from a succession of Conservative governments.
The BMA has long claimed its demands are for “pay restoration”, given that previous NHS pay rises for doctors have not kept pace with inflation since 2008.
The latest strike, which took place just days before the general election, was the eleventh by young doctors in twenty months.
Some 1,486,258 appointments have been postponed since the NHS strike, affecting staff including doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and paramedics, began in late 2022.
But not all NHS trusts have provided figures on cancelled appointments, meaning the true scale of disruption is expected to be higher.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: ‘The NHS is broken, and the Secretary of State has been clear that he wants to work with junior doctors to get it back on track and improve working conditions.
‘The deal being put forward to doctors will increase junior doctors’ pay and see the BMA, NHS England and the Government work together to improve conditions, including by reviewing the current rota system.’
