Junior doctors in England have accepted the government’s pay offer, ending one of the longest and most intense disputes in the NHS’s recent history.
Just under two-thirds (66%) of the 45,830 young doctors who voted supported the deal, which will see them receive an average salary increase of 22.3% over two years.
It ends 18 months of strikes that saw junior doctors stop working for 44 days, sometimes for five days straight, causing massive disruption to the NHS.
The 22.3% rise was less than the 35% increase that the British Medical Association’s junior doctors’ committee (JDC) has been seeking for the past two years as “full payment” for the fall in earnings they have suffered since 2008. But it was enough to convince a significant majority of that branch of the medical profession to end their campaign of strikes.
Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trevedi, JDC co-chairs, said: “It should never have taken this long to get here, but we have shown what can be achieved with determination and a government willing to sit down and talk realistically about a path to wage recovery.”
Their acceptance of the deal will come as a relief to Wes Streeting, who made resolving the dispute a priority when he became health minister on July 5.
Streeting said: “We inherited a broken NHS, the most devastating conflict in health service history, and there has been no negotiation with previous ministers since March.
“It should never have gotten this bad. That’s why I made ending the strikes a priority and we negotiated an end to them in just three weeks.
“I am pleased that our offer has been accepted, bringing the strikes to an end, given the looming winter pressure on the NHS.”
In total, 30,227 of the 45,830 young doctors who voted voted in favour of the deal, which the JDC in July called “the best offer currently available”, while 15,596 (34%) voted against.
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The deal will also see junior doctors change their names to “resident doctors” and be paid more reliably for the extra hours they work. In addition, the doctors and dentists’ assessment body will take into account the NHS-wide shortage of doctors in his future advice to ministers on the remuneration of doctors.
The JDC warned Streeting that they could strike again in the future if the pay review body did not recommend large enough pay increases.
Laurenson and Trevedi said: “Mr Streeting has acknowledged that our pay is behind schedule and has spoken about a journey to restore pay. He believes the pay review body is the right vehicle for this and if he is right then no doctor will need to strike over pay in the future.
“But if the body that assesses the reward disappoints, he must be prepared for the consequences.”
Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, welcomed the news. “Health leaders will breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the ongoing pay dispute between junior doctors and the government has been successfully resolved. The last thing our members needed was the threat of more strike action over what is expected to be a very tough winter,” he said.