The UK has struck a proposed pay deal with unions representing senior doctors, potentially ending six months of strikes that have worsened waiting times in the National Health Service.
While the British Medical Association said Monday that doctors would see their pay increase by a minimum of 6%, many would see an additional raise of as much as 12.8%, depending on career stage. The BMA and another doctors’ union, the HCSA, have paused strike action to put the offer to members.
“This is a fair deal for consultants who will benefit from major reform to their contract,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement. “It is fair for taxpayers because it will not risk our ongoing work to tackle inflation, and most importantly it is a good deal for patients to see the end of consultant industrial action.”
However, nurses were outraged after the deal eclipsed their own pay rise, agreed earlier in the year. Most NHS employees were awarded a 5% rise for 2023-24, and nurses’ strikes ended when a vote for more action failed to reach the 50% turnout threshold required in Britain.
“Nursing staff will be appalled by this announcement,” said Nicola Ranger from the Royal College of Nursing, on Monday, adding that future strikes were possible. “The government continues to undervalue our profession.”
The proposals for senior doctors would help women who take time out for caring responsibilities and are often disadvantaged under the current system, according to the BMA. The union said the offer would “extend rights for enhanced shared parental leave and, therefore, make considerable progress at tackling the gender pay gap in medicine.”
The tentative agreement also sets out commitments to reform a pay-review process that usually sets out how much uplift medical staff receive. The BMA wants a say in selecting members of the review body and argues that references to inflation targets should be removed from its terms of reference.