Junior doctors to vote on four-year pay deal

Junior doctors are to be balloted on whether to accept a four-year deal which will mean annual pay uplifts of 2%

NHS Employers and the British Medical Association have reached agreement on a set of proposals that will now be put to a vote of the BMA’s junior doctor membership on Friday 14 June.

A total of £90 million will be used to fund changes over and above the pay increases over the four-year period, including:

• An improved weekend working allowance to remunerate those doing the most frequent weekend shifts are remunerated more fairly
• Enhanced pay rate for shifts that finish between midnight and 4:00am, and
• A new pay level to replace the senior decision maker allowance.

Agreement has also been reached over safety and rest limits; exception reporting and guardian of safe working hours; work scheduling and code of practice; leave and locum work.

Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said: “We welcome the additional investment from the government and NHS England. The agreements reached show the seriousness of all sides to review and improve the contract, to build a safe and constructive way forward for this important part of our workforce.

“We very much hope that doctors will support the investments and contract amendments, which in turn will allow the BMA to restore normal collective relationships with the NHS.”

Dr Jeeves Wijesuriya, chair of the BMA junior doctors committee, said: “The BMA has scored major victories for junior doctors by securing enhanced shared parental leave for trainees and extra funding for rest and fatigue facilities around the country, following worrying complaints about over-worked doctors sleeping on floors or being unable to recuperate during night shifts.

“The proposed deal contains other significant enhancements to further improve the pay, conditions and training opportunities for junior doctors across the NHS and are a result of a new collaborative, constructive negotiation process that has learned from the mistakes of the past.

“There is of course a great deal more that needs to be done and junior doctors will remain at the forefront of campaigns for a better funded, well-staffed and publicly run health service. We believe these proposals are a major step in the right direction for our workforce and our NHS, and we have endorsed these improvements to our members in the upcoming referendum.”

The agreement covers the period from April 2019 to March 2023. In 19/20, this will mean a total investment of 2.3%. In each of the three subsequent years (20/21-22/23) this will mean annual pay uplifts of 2% and a further 1% of additional investment in the contract.

If junior doctors support the deal new terms will be introduced from August 2019 for doctors in training. This will put the contract on the same basis as all national NHS pay contracts with changes agreed in partnership between staff and employer representatives.

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