Resident doctors in England start receiving ballots for industrial action
Resident doctors in England, formerly known as junior doctors, have started receiving ballots for renewed industrial action following criticism of the Government's recent pay rise offer.
Ministers announced last week that most doctors would receive a 4% pay rise following the latest review of public sector pay, with resident doctors to receive an extra £750 on top of the uplift.
The British Medical Association (BMA), the union representing doctors, said the pay rise does not go far enough in restoring historical pay freezes.
Resident doctors in England starting receiving ballots for industrial action on Tuesday, the BMA said.
The ballot closes on July 7, and if doctors vote for action then a mandate would last between July and January next year.
Co-chairs of the resident doctors committee urged doctors to vote for strike action, but said the door remains open for the Government to come through with a solution.
Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt said: 'Last week the Government finally told us what it would do to restore the pay of doctors: almost nothing.
'Doctors have seen their pay decline by 23% in real terms since 2008. No doctor today is worth less than they were then, but at the rate the Government is offering it would be over a decade before we once again reached that level of pay.
'As ballots once again fall through doctors' letterboxes, we are simply saying: the NHS does not have that time. Waiting lists are too high, too many people can't see their GP, too many patients are being treated in corridors.
'Doctors need to be kept in the country and in their career not in 10 or 20 years' time, but now.'
They continued: 'We are urging doctors to vote yes to strike action. By voting yes they will be telling the Government there is no alternative to fixing pay – this cannot wait for different fiscal circumstances and a healthier NHS. The answer is to fix it today.
'While doctors continue to return these ballots however, our door is always open.
'Wes Streeting has made clear he knows the value of dialogue over division. Instead of repeating the mistakes of his predecessors, he can come to us with a solution now. Even if doctors vote for industrial action, with the right approach not a single picket line need ever form.'
The increase, recommended by an independent pay review body, is above the rate of inflation, which jumped to 3.5% in April, up from 2.6% in March and the highest since January 2024.
But Professor Philip Banfield, the BMA's chairman of council, warned shortly after the Government's announcement that the union was already considering strike action, believing the pay rise does not do enough to restore doctors' pay after previous salary freezes.
'Doctors' pay is still around a quarter less than it was in real terms 16 years ago and today's 'award' delays pay restoration even more, without a government plan or reassurance to correct this erosion of what a doctor is worth,' he said.
Mr Streeting, the Health Secretary, said: 'I understand the anxiety and anger that resident doctors have felt and continue to feel about their part of the profession – over 14 years, they saw the NHS that they were working in slide into crisis.
'That's why, within weeks of coming into office, I was determined to resolve the pay dispute and give resident doctors a substantial pay rise. That's now being followed by another above-inflation average pay award of 5.4% (which includes the top up).
'The result is that resident doctors have seen their pay increase by 28.9% compared to three years ago. The average starting salary of a full-time Resident Doctor is now around £38,800 – up nearly £9,500 since 2022-23.
'I want to work in partnership with resident doctors to deliver the change that the NHS is crying out for. Together, we have made great progress – in the past ten months, through our Plan for Change, we have worked with staff to cut waiting lists by over 200,000 and put the NHS on the road to recovery – let's not stop now.'
Resident doctor is the new term for junior doctor and refers to more than 50,000 qualified doctors working in GP practices and hospitals, from graduates to medics with a decade of experience.
Resident doctor members of the BMA have taken industrial action 11 times since 2022.
NHS England estimates the walkouts led to almost 1.5 million appointments being cancelled or rescheduled.
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