Resident docs in England to be balloted on strike motion over pay

Thousands of resident docs in England shall be balloted for strike motion over pay, elevating the specter of a summer time of stoppages, the British Medical Association has introduced.

The transfer comes seven months once they permitted a 22.3% pay upward thrust over two years, for 2023-24 and 2024-25, bringing to an finish one of the vital longest and bitterest disputes in fresh NHS historical past.

Resident docs – prior to now referred to as junior docs – staged 18 months of moves right through which they stopped paintings on 44 days, infrequently for 5 days at a time. The business motion brought about monumental disruption to the NHS, to different scientific group of workers and to sufferers looking ahead to remedy.

On Friday, the union mentioned 3 weeks had handed because it warned the federal government of the “consequences of the absence of a reasonable, timely pay offer” for 2025-26. Its poll will open on 27 May and shut on 7 July.

If returned with a “yes” vote, a mandate for strike motion would final from July 2025 to January 2026.

The co-chairs of the BMA’s resident docs’ committee, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, mentioned after a gathering with the well being secretary: “Today we met with 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 toward pay restoration by 2027, in line with existing BMA policy.

“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.

“No doctor today is worth less than they were 17 years ago, and that is precisely what doctors voting ‘yes’ to industrial action will be telling the government.

“We don’t want to be in the situation where we have to fight over and over again for our worth. We would rather get on with our careers and our work caring for our patients.

“But our successful action over previous years shows clearly that if that is what we must do, then doctors are more than prepared to do it.”

The 22.3% upward thrust agreed in September final yr used to be lower than the 35% the BMA used to be looking for as “full pay restoration” for the autumn in profits skilled since 2008. But it proved sufficient to influence a majority of resident docs to name off their stoppages.

Danny Mortimer, the manager government of NHS Employers, mentioned hospitals could be “alarmed” by way of the BMA’s resolution to poll resident docs for strike motion over pay.

“Health leaders would urge all trade unions, including the BMA, to prioritise dialogue with the government rather than industrial action,” he mentioned.

Speaking previous this week, Keir Starmer mentioned he was hoping the federal government may paintings with NHS group of workers to discover a option to steer clear of strike motion, announcing: “I don’t want to see strike action. I don’t think anybody wants to see strike action.”

Both Unison and the RCN nursing union are consulting individuals about conceivable ballots for business motion.