Junior doctors accept 22% pay deal to end strike action

Junior doctors have voted to accept a government pay deal worth 22.3 per cent on average over two years, the British Medical Association has said.

- HOLLY EVANS

The deal will see junior doctors’ pay rise by between 3.71 per cent and 5.05 per cent – averaging 4.05 per cent – on top of their existing pay award for 2023-24. This will be backdated to April 2023.

Wes Streeting, the health secretary, said he is pleased the BMA has accepted the government’s pay deal and said that the situation “should never have been allowed to get this bad”.

The last strike by juniors doctors, which took place from 27 June to 2 July, affected 61,989 appointments, procedures and operations, according to NHS England.

In a statement, the BMA said: “The BMA’s junior doctors committee (JDC) in England has accepted the government’s pay offer, with 66 per cent of junior doctors voting in favour of the deal.”

The statement added: “Outside the pay negotiations, the government has agreed that from September 18 ‘junior doctors’ across the UK will be known as ‘resident doctors’ to better reflect their expertise.

“This follows a motion to the BMA’s annual policy making conference in 2023 when doctors voted in favour of a name change.”