Junior doctors have been offered a 22% pay risk offer by the Labour government.
It comes after the British Medical Association’s (BMA) recommended that its members accept the government’s 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.
Members of the BMA junior doctors committee will soon vote on whether to accept the government’s latest offer, which if accepted would put an end to NHS staff strikes.
However, some members are urging medics to reject the offer after the union originally requested a 35% pay rise.
Junior doctor, Dr Tim Rickett, said on X: “It’s important to remember the quoted 20% figure includes the pay increase given to us by the Tories.
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Without commitment to full pay restoration, I’ll be voting no to this offer. Any deal that leaves a foundation year one being paid less than their assistant is unacceptable.”
Dr Eilidh Garrett, tropical disease medic, said: “A day one physician associate will be still earning substantially more than foundation year one. Best deal for most junior doctors? Try again.
“If inflation is 8% for example next year we will have only just kept up with inflation and done nothing to correct the years of erosion. I went on strike because I wanted full pay restoration, did you?”
Physician associates support doctors in the diagnosis and management of patients. Instead of going to medical school, physician associates are only required to complete two years of post-graduate training on top of a degree in a subject like biomedical sciences.
They are unable to order scans, prescribe drugs and diagnose patients, and should be supervised by a doctor.
Medical student Joshua Soane said: “This abysmal offer means that junior doctors will still earn > £8,000 a year less than their assistants. The membership must not accept it – fight for what you are worth!”
The proposed deal would see doctors receive an 8.1% and 10.3% increase for the upcoming financial year and a backdated 4.05 per cent increase for 2023/24
This is alongside a current 6% pay rise for 2024/2025, topped up by a £1,000 payment – equivalent to a pay rise of between 7% and 9%.
A 22.3% pay increase would cost taxpayers approximately an extra £1 billion. With this increase, the lowest paid junior medics would earn £36,000 in two years’ time – a £4,000 rise.
Meanwhile, the highest paid junior doctors would see their salaries go beyond £70,000 from £63,000.
However, a 35% increase would see the highest paid junior doctors earn £20,000 more than their current salary.
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“We’re committed to working to find a solution, resolving this dispute, but I can’t get into detailed running commentary on negotiations,” said a spokesperson for the Prime Minister.
They added: “We’ve been honest with the public and the sector about the economic circumstances we face. But the Government is determined to do the hard work necessary to finally bring these strikes to an end.
“The industrial action has been hugely damaging both to patients and to the impact on the waiting lists and we’ve said we’re committed to finding a solution and resolving this dispute.”
In the last 20 months, junior doctors have walked out 11 times, with the last strike taking place just days before the general election in July 2024.
More than one million NHS appointments have been postponed since the end of 2022, data has revealed.
A BMA spokesperson commented: “The BMA’s junior doctor committee is recommending the pay deal to members in England and we believe the deal will bring an end to the strike action by junior doctors in England.”
