Latest news with #Wes Streeting
The Sun
12 hours ago
- Health
- The Sun
Nearly 2,000 junior doctors earned over £90,000 a year but they are STILL going on strike demanding a 29% pay rise
NEARLY 2,000 junior doctors earned over £90,000 in one year, the Sun on Sunday can reveal. But they are still planning to walk out on strike this week demanding a whopping 29 per cent pay rise. Around five per cent of doctors in specialist training made more than £91,700, NHS England data from April 2023 to March 2024 shows. 2 It means over 1,800 junior doctors, now known as residents, were in the top five per cent of UK earners in that period. Critics said the shocking revelation shows just how outrageous it is that junior doctors are going on strike this week. They will down tools for five days from Friday morning. 2 Shadow health secretary Ed Argar said the strikes were a 'slap in the face' for Brits who will pay the price. He added: 'These strikes are irresponsible, unnecessary and wrong, and should be called off now. 'Resident doctors will be coming off the front line and going on the picket line and this kind of chaos puts patients and lives at risk." Health Secretary Wes Streeting has told the Commons the average first-year doctor earns £43,275 - 'significantly more than the average full-time worker in this country'. This week talks between the leftie British Medical Association and Wes Streeting ended in a stalemate. A spokesman for the BMA said the high earnings will have been paid to a minority of more senior resident doctors working multiple weekends, anti-social hours and extra shifts to cover gaps in rotas. He added: 'It is an indication of the huge workforce shortage in the NHS because these doctors, like scores of others, step in, give up their time to fill as many shifts as they can to make sure patients are seen and cared for.'
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
Streeting's olive branch to junior doctors in bid to avoid strikes
Wes Streeting could hand junior doctors better working conditions in an attempt to avert strikes. The Health Secretary is examining changes which could make it easier for doctors to plan holidays, rise up the ranks and have more convenient shift patterns. However, the British Medical Association's leaders said they wanted to see 'solutions that address the cost of living'. Mr Streeting met the BMA junior doctors committee on Thursday, in a last-ditch attempt to avert a five-day strike which is due next week. The BMA said Thursday's talks were 'great', while Mr Streeting said: 'We had a constructive conversation with the BMA today and we'll be having further conversations in the coming days to try to avert strike action. 'While we cannot move on pay after a 28.9 per cent pay rise, we are working on areas where we can improve working lives for resident doctors. 'Strikes have a serious cost for patients, so I am appealing to the BMA to call them off and instead work together to improve their members' working conditions and continue rebuilding the NHS.' Pay rise 'off the table' Officials will continue talks on Friday and over the weekend, with the BMA saying there was a 'window of opportunity' to make sufficient progress to cancel the strikes. The union is demanding a pay increase of 29 per cent and said the talks, which lasted more than an hour, covered 'both pay and non-pay issues'. Mr Streeting has said any further pay rise is off the table. Discussions are set to focus on working conditions, where Mr Streeting has said he is sympathetic to complaints that it is too difficult for doctors to plan holidays in advance or find workable shift patterns. However the BMA is pushing for doctors to receive a financial boost from any deal. Earlier this week the Health Secretary suggested doctors could be offered quicker progression in their careers, so they can get pay rises sooner, rather than be stuck in training bottlenecks. The union is also keen to see some student debts written off. 'Huge' student debts Dr Melissa Ryan, co-chairman of the BMA's Resident Doctors Committee, said doctors inherited 'a huge amount' of student debt. In a statement with co-chairman Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, she said: 'We are open to a number of solutions that address the cost of living of resident doctors. 'We believe that pay remains the simplest and most effective way towards improving their working lives. However, we are keen to explore additional measures the Government could agree to help restore the value and wellbeing of resident doctors.' Dr Ryan said: 'There were high-level discussions about a number of different ways that resident doctors can have their situation improved... we work extraordinarily long hours looking after your loved ones, and it was refreshing to hear that Mr Streeting has heard how difficult it is to be a resident doctor, and the rationale of why some of them are leaving the NHS.' Pay boosts under Labour mean junior doctors have seen earnings rise by 28.9 per cent, bringing basic starting salaries to £38,831 a year. But there are significant boosts to pay from on-call working. By the time doctors reach the last stage of training, called ST8, basic starting salaries are £73,992 a year. This means an A&E doctor at this stage can earn more than £100,000 a year, by working a full on-call rota which includes one in six weekends, one in eight nights and two evening shifts. Health officials are expected to meet the BMA on Friday, with talks expected to continue over the weekend.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Wes Streeting considers writing off part of doctors' student debts to avert strike
Doctors could have some of their student loan debts written off as part of a package of measures being examined by Wes Streeting that may help avert next week's strike. The Department of Health and Social Care is analysing how a new system of 'forgiveness' could be brought in for younger doctors who are paying back student debts of up to £100,000. The disclosure that the DHSC is looking closely at such a scheme comes before crucial talks on Thursday afternoon between the health secretary and the co-chairs of the British Medical Association's (BMA) resident doctors committee aimed at averting the latter's planned five-day walkout starting on 25 July. The health department is looking at several different ways such a scheme might work, according to well-placed sources. They include not charging interest on debts accrued by doctors in training while they were at medical school – freezing the debt in effect – and cutting the overall debt by a certain sum for every year the doctor works in the NHS in England. Advocates of debt relief believe it would incentivise doctors to stay in the NHS rather than quitting and would show them that the government is keen to improve their finances but without giving them big annual pay rises that would prompt other public sector workers to seek the same. The BMA's resident doctors committee wants Streeting to give the 55,000 doctors in training in England it represents a 29% pay rise over the next few years as part of its long-running campaign to restore the full value of salaries to the level they were at in 2008. But Streeting has refused to reopen negotiations on the 5.4% award for this year he imposed on them in May. The DHSC has begun modelling the practicalities of a debt relief scheme as it explores what steps it, and NHS trusts, which directly employ medics, could take to meet doctors' concerns about issues that do not involve their salaries but cause them huge frustration. It is also looking at whether doctors could have some or all of the cost of taking exams needed to progress their careers covered and moves to make it easier for younger doctors to take annual leave. While Streeting cannot offer resident doctors a bigger pay rise this year, he is aware that being able to commit to progress on non-pay related issues – which he has more freedom to deliver – could show them that he is, as he has said, the health secretary most sympathetic to their desire to improve their working lives that they are likely to encounter. Debt forgiveness is a key priority for the BMA, which may see it becoming an issue on which the two sides – currently far apart – can find common ground. The co-chairs of the resident doctor committee, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, indicated that they would consider any proposal from the government on debt write-off. Crucially, they added that it could act as 'an element' of them realising their ambition of restoring the value of doctors' pay. 'If wiping out student loans for doctors in England is something the government is considering, then we would be interested to see the details of what that means in practical terms. 'Loan forgiveness is something we would have to consider as a committee as an element of restoring value to doctors' working lives, and so if the government is serious about this then we look forward to hearing more from the health secretary in today's meeting. 'After five years of study, students can finish medical school with debts of up to £100,000 and then, as doctors, face monthly loan repayments of up to 10% of their salary for most of their working lives.' However, any student debt write-off scheme for doctors would be complicated for the government, and require the Treasury's approval. It could also prompt other health unions, notably the Royal College of Nursing, to demand that their members are able to benefit from such an arrangement.
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
Junior doctors in line for £270m pension boost under new pay demands
Striking junior doctors will receive an extra £270m a year in gold-plated pension contributions if Labour meets their latest pay demands, figures suggest. Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, is due to meet doctors on Thursday in a last-ditch attempt to avoid planned industrial action next week. The Government has already confirmed they will receive a 5.4pc salary boost, but medics voted in favour of a five-day walk-out after their request for 29pc was rejected. Awarding the full amount could net the average worker almost £15,000 more in pay, and an extra £3,500 in pension contributions, analysis has found. There are 77,000 junior doctors, recently renamed as resident doctors, working in NHS hospitals and community services, potentially adding another £269.5m to the pensions bill. Taxpayers already hand £11bn a year to NHS retirees, and pay another £16bn in pension contributions for current staff. As part of the NHS Pension Scheme, resident doctors pay between 9.8pc and 12.8pc of their salary in themselves. In return, they receive employer contributions of 23.7pc and retire with a guaranteed, inflation-linked pension for life. They currently earn an average of £51,450 during their core training years, which would rise to £66,400 if their demands were met in full. Their pay has already risen 28.9pc over the last three years. The British Medical Association (BMA) balloted its members on strike action after the Government rejected its demands for 29pc. Industrial action will begin on July 25 and could cause more than 200,000 hospital appointments to be cancelled. John O'Connell, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Taxpayers are already shelling out billions for gold-plated public sector pensions, and now resident doctors want even more. 'If they get their way, it will be ordinary British workers – many of whom will never see such generous retirement deals – left footing the bill. 'This strike is a disgrace and should be stopped before it causes real harm to patients.' However, the Resident Doctors Committee said: 'Resident doctor pay is down more than a fifth since 2008-09, when pay began falling in real terms. We're only asking for that to be restored. No doctor is worth less or working less than they were 17 years ago. 'We estimate the net cost to the Treasury of full pay restoration for resident doctors to be less than 0.5pc of the NHS budget, which is a tiny price to pay to guarantee the future of the medical profession and health service.' Resident doctors have walked out 11 times since 2023, but strikes came to a halt after Labour agreed to a 22pc pay rise. Mr Streeting said the BMA was now leaving the NHS's recovery 'hanging by a thread', and called the strikes 'completely unreasonable'. However, in an LBC interview last week, he opened the door to cutting pension contributions in favour of pay rises. Neil Record, a pensions expert and former Bank of England economist, said: 'Wes Streeting has already floated the idea that NHS workers might be able to opt for higher cash salaries in return for lower pension accrual for future service. 'Coincidentally, a doctor choosing to give up all future pension contributions from their employer, but preserving the pension they've already built up, could be given a take-home pay increase of almost exactly the same as the current 29pc pay claim without any additional cost to the NHS and hence the taxpayer. 'Perhaps this could be offered to doctors as an option, and see what the take-up is?' When approached by The Telegraph however, the BMA ruled the move out. A Department for Health spokesman said talks on strike action were ongoing: 'The secretary of state has been clear that these strikes are unnecessary and unreasonable, following a 28.9pc pay rise and the majority of doctors not voting for these strikes. 'The BMA has accepted the Health Secretary's offer to meet.'
The Independent
3 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Labour voters side with doctors over Streeting ahead of strike
A new poll indicates Labour voters support junior doctors' planned five-day walkout, despite overall public opposition to the industrial action. The More in Common survey found 44 per cent of the public oppose the strike, compared to 34 per cent in favour, though Labour and Green voters show majority support. Health Secretary Wes Streeting is holding last-ditch talks to avert the strike, warning it could severely impact the NHS, while the BMA insists its 29 per cent pay demand is non-negotiable. Resident doctors in England are set to strike from 25 July as part of an ongoing pay dispute with the government. Despite mixed views on current pay, 58 per cent of the public believe preventing further strikes should be prioritised, even if it means increasing doctors' pay to protect the NHS.
