Junior doctors in England have voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking strike action in their fight for a 26% pay rise. Members of the British Medical Association (BMA) are now expected to take part in a 72-hour walkout, possibly as early as mid-March. The union has argued that the rise is necessary to make up for pay cuts since 2008, once inflation is taken into account. However, experts have suggested that if a different measure of inflation is used, the fall in pay for junior doctor roles is lower.
The ballot by the BMA involved nearly 48,000 members working across hospitals and the community – more than two-thirds of the junior doctor workforce. More than three-quarters of those balloted took part, with 98% voting in favour of action. Dr Robert Laurenson, co-chair of the BMA junior doctors committee, said the vote showed the strength of feeling about the issue. He stated that doctors were “frustrated, in despair and angry” and had voted “in their thousands” to say that “in the name of our profession, our patients, and our NHS, doctors won’t take it anymore.”
The action comes as nurses and ambulance staff are also warning they will escalate their industrial action in their dispute over pay. Members of the Royal College of Nursing will walk out across half of frontline services in England next week for 48 hours. Meanwhile, Unison, the biggest union in the ambulance service, is expected to announce more strike dates now that its mandate has increased from five of England’s 10 ambulance services to nine.
The last time junior doctors went on strike was in 2016 over a new contract that was introduced. This year junior doctors saw pay increase by 2% as part of a four-year agreement that saw an overall rise of 8.2% between 2019-20 to 2022-23. Currently, the basic starting salary for a junior doctor is £29,000, but once extra payments for things like unsociable hours is taken into account average earnings exceed £40,000. By the end of their training, which can last 15 years for some, basic pay is more than £53,000.
The Department of Health and Social Care said alongside an 8.2% pay rise over four years the current deal also introduced higher bands of pay for the most experienced staff and increased rates for night shifts. Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he had met with the BMA to discuss pay and conditions and that the pay award for the 2023-24 financial year is expected to be announced in the coming months. He expressed his disappointment at the decision to take strike action, saying “we hugely value the work of junior doctors”.
Sources at the BMA have said the 26% pay demand does not necessarily need to be paid in one go, but until the government agrees to restoring pay action will continue. The BMA has yet to decide whether to strike elsewhere in the UK as it awaits more information from ministers about their pay plans in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Saffron Cordery, of NHS Providers, which represents health managers, said the prospect of a 72-hour strike was “extremely worrying” and urged an “urgent resolution” to prevent harm to patients.
During a strike junior doctors will withdraw from both routine and emergency care – although they are legally only able to withdraw from life-and-limb emergency care if the NHS has found other staff to cover for them. During the 2016 walkout consultants stepped in, but this meant a huge amount of pre-planned treatments such as knee and hip replacements had to be cancelled. With junior doctors now set to take action again, it remains to be seen how this will affect patient care.