Junior doctors strike: BMA union could meet Health Secretary ‘this afternoon’ in bid to end pay dispute

Striking junior doctors could meet the Health Secretary as soon as this afternoon to discuss a pay rise, a member of the British Medical Association (BMA) said.

Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chairman of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he hopes talks with Steve Barclay can begin soon as Friday (17 March). The union is demanding “pay restoration” for junior doctors, who can have many years’ experience and make up about 45% of the medical workforce.

It says their pay has fallen in real terms by 26% since 2008/09 and reversing this would require a 35.3% pay rise. Dr Trivedi said: “Our position has been that we are open to talk in good faith, meaningfully, at any time.

“We were ready to talk months ago. Our formal dispute started over 150 days ago and, again, that is just what I mean in that it is disappointing it has taken Steve Barclay so long to get to the negotiating table. I only hope that he does come with good faith and a mandate to negotiate.

“So far we haven’t arranged a time for this afternoon but there has been some correspondence between our offices so it does look like we’ll be able to set something up in the near future.”

Barclay has called on junior doctors to follow the example of other health unions, who on Thursday (16 March) said they will recommend a pay deal to NHS staff including nurses and ambulance workers. “We have offered the same terms to the junior doctors that were accepted by the other trade unions and that is what I hope the junior doctors will respond to,” he said.

Why are junior doctors striking?

The BMA has said the government has excluded junior doctors in England from the 2022/2023 pay award process as their contract is still subject to a multiple-year pay deal. This went against the advice of the DDRB (Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration) which allows the amount to be revisited if the situation has changed, it said.

As a result of the global pandemic, cost of living crisis, and rising inflation, the union believes the situation has changed.

The BMA said successive governments have overseen 15 years of real-terms pay cuts for junior doctors in England, which amounts to a “staggering and unjustifiable” 26.1% decline in pay since 2008/09. The union also said patients are suffering and exhausted staff are burning out and leaving the NHS as a result, arguing that the government still “fails to see the crisis in front of it”.

BMA chair of the council, Professor Phil Banfield, said: “The situation is severe. A third of junior doctors are planning to work in another country. Four in ten say that as soon as they can find another job, they will leave the NHS. The health service will simply not be able to cope.

“For decades the NHS was the envy of the world. But without our doctors’ expertise, the country will get sicker. We will not accept impoverished healthcare for our nation, or acquiesce to those looking to slash pay and drive down living standards for NHS staff. In 2023 we will stand together with patients - an organised workforce ready to act.”

When did the doctors strike?

A 72 hour strike took place this week between 6.59am on Monday (13 March) until 6.59am on Thursday (16 March).

How much does a junior doctor earn? 

A NHS doctor’s salary varies according to grade, years in a role, and where the job is based. In the case of ‘junior doctors’, they are qualified doctors in clinical training at a hospital or in general practice. They can be junior doctors for up to eight years in hospital, or for three years as a GP, before becoming consultants.

According to the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the 2016 contract in England for junior doctors removed incremental annual pay rises. Instead their salary increased by larger amounts at so-called nodal points - when junior doctors move up a grade - for example, the first day they work as a speciality register (core training).

For each grade, a junior doctor in England earns pre-tax:

Foundation Doctor Year 1

Stage of training: FY1

Foundation Doctor Year 2

Stage of training: FY2

Specialty Registrar (StR) (Core Training)

Stage of training: CT1

Stage of training: CT2

Stage of training: CT3

Specialty Registrar (StR)

(Run-Through Training or Higher Training)/ Specialist Registrar (SpR)

Stage of training: ST1 / SpR1

Stage of training: ST2 / SpR2

Stage of training: ST3 / SpR3

Stage of training: ST4 / SpR4

Stage of training: ST5 / SpR5

Stage of training: ST6 / SpR6

Stage of training: ST7 / SpR7

Stage of training: ST8 / SpR8