A strike involving junior doctors and doctors in training in Scotland has been suspended after the British Medical Association and the Scottish government agreed to a record 12.4% pay increase.
Following discussions with the country’s health secretary Michael Matheson, BMA Scotland has agreed to suspend strike action while it consults members on the deal.
If accepted, trainee and junior doctors will see a 12.4% pay increase for 2023-24. This means that junior doctors in Scotland would have seen a consolidated 17.5% increase in pay over two years, taking into account the 4.5% increase awarded in 2022-23.
They had been due to strike between 12 and 15 July after previously rejecting a 14.5% pay rise over two years.
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If the offer is accepted, no health unions would be in dispute with the government over pay in Scotland.
In addition, BMA Scotland will enter contract negotiations with the Scottish government from Autumn 2023 with the aim of improving the working and training conditions of junior doctors by April 2026. Talks will also consider a new pay review mechanism.
BMA Scotland said it would recommend that its members accept the pay deal when it is put to them in a consultative ballot in the coming weeks.
Dr Chris Smith, chair of BMA Scotland’s junior doctors’ committee, said: “This is an unprecedented shift from the Scottish Government, which is a recognition of the huge decline in real terms pay that doctors have experienced over the past fifteen years, and the huge amount of work needed to undo the damage this has caused to the NHS.
“By agreeing to address the way our pay has been cut, and setting out a clear mechanism for doing so, the government is making a serious, welcome commitment to ensuring that pay for junior doctors in Scotland is restored to a fair level.
“The agreement is clear that the increases above inflation over the next three years must be substantial enough in real terms to make credible progress on the path towards pay restoration.”
Under the deal, BMA Scotland said that for the following three financial years, junior doctors will receive a guaranteed minimum pay uplift of inflation every year. Over this three-year period, the Scottish government has committed to negotiate further annual pay rises on top of inflation that must “make credible progress on the path towards pay restoration”.
Scottish health secretary Michael Matheson said: “Following months of negotiations with BMA Scotland, I am delighted that we have agreed a pay deal for 2023/24 for our junior doctors. BMA have agreed to suspend strike action in Scotland while they consult with their members.
“I hope this investment and the significant commitments we have given around pay and contract reform will show junior doctors how much we value them, and that we are determined to ensure that Scotland is the place for junior doctors to work and train.”
The Scottish government said the deal represented a £61.3 million investment in junior doctors’ pay, the largest in the last 20 years and the best offer in the UK currently.
In England, junior doctors have been offered a 5% pay rise – well below the 35% “pay restoration” being sought by the BMA in the country. Junior doctor members of the BMA and the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association are set to go on strike in England between 7:00am on Thursday 13 July and 7:00am on Tuesday 18 July.
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In Wales, BMA Cymru Wales accepted a revised offer from the Welsh government for 2022-23. There are currently no plans to ballot junior doctors in Northern Ireland for industrial action.
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