Last minute offer could avert next week’s doctors’ strike

A strike by resident doctors in England next week could be avoided after ministers proposed a new deal to the British Medical Association.

The doctors’ union has agreed to submit this offer to its members in the coming days. If they support it, the five-day strike which begins on Wednesday December 17 could be called off.

The offer includes a rapid expansion of specialist training positions as well as support for out-of-pocket expenses such as exam fees.

But it does not include any promise of additional salary. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has been adamant that he will not negotiate on this, given that resident doctors – the new name for junior doctors – have enjoyed pay rises of almost 30% over the past three years.

The deal also includes the introduction of emergency legislation so that the NHS can prioritize doctors who have studied and worked in the UK for specialist training positions that resident doctors move into during the third year of their training.

This year, competition was intense for these positions, with 30,000 applicants for 10,000 positions. Some of them will be foreign doctors who, under current rules, must be judged on the same grounds as British doctors.

The number of specialist roles will also increase by 4,000 by 2028 – with the first 1,000 of these becoming available from next year. Previously, the government had promised an increase of 2,000.

The BMA will now consult with member resident doctors to see if this offer is enough to call off next week’s strike. A member survey will be conducted online and will conclude on Monday, December 15, just two days before the strike begins.

The move angered Streeting, who wanted the union to call off next week’s strike.

Ministers fear that by Monday hospitals will have already had to cancel a significant number of treatments as part of their preparations for the strike.

Streeting said he had offered to allow the BMA to extend its mandate, which expires in the first week of January, so it could still hold a five-day strike if members did not support the deal.

Streeting said he was “surprised” that the BMA had not agreed to this given the difficulties hospitals are facing from flu and other winter pressures, which he said means “the specter of next week’s strikes still looms”.

“I cannot understand the willful casualness with which the BMA leadership has chosen to inflict this pain on patients, other staff and the NHS itself,” he said.

“This is one of the most shameful episodes in the long history of the BMA.”

He added: “NHS leaders will have to start canceling other doctors’ leave now to cover possible strikes, and patients will also suffer unnecessary and avoidable disruption due to some canceled appointments and operations. That’s up to the BMA.”

Regarding the offer, he said: “Doctors have asked me to guarantee jobs, especially against unfair competition from abroad, and this overall offer will deliver.”

Chairman of the BMA Resident Doctors Committee, Dr Jack Fletcher, said: “This offer is the result of thousands of resident doctors showing they are ready to champion their profession and its future.

“He should not have resorted to the strike, but make no mistake: it was the strike that got us to this point.

“We have forced the government to recognize the scale of the problems and respond with measures regarding the number of training courses and prioritization.

“However, this offer does nothing to restore doctors’ pay, which remains largely the responsibility of the government.”

Streeting later told the House of Commons that he would withdraw the government’s offer if the BMA rejected it, so as not to “encourage” further strikes.

The BMA says that despite pay rises in recent years, wages are still a fifth lower than in 2008, once inflation is taken into account.

If members indicate in the online survey that the supply is sufficient to call off next week’s strikes, a formal referendum of medical residents would follow. This would give members time to consider the details of the offer and decide whether to accept it and end the current dispute, the BMA said.

If the member survey reveals that it is not enough to call off the strikes, they will continue as planned next week, the union added.