Junior doctors to stage 72-hour strike after rejecting pay offer

Britons should expect significant disruption in the health service as junior doctors plan more strikes in response to years of 'pay erosion', ITV News' Shehab Khan reports

Junior doctors will stage a 72-hour walkout on June 14 after the government failed to make a "credible offer" on pay, the British Medical Association has said.

The strike will start at 7am after the BMA rejected a 5% pay rise.

Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, co-chairs of the BMA Junior Doctors Committee, said they were "seeking a deal that fully restores pay for junior doctors after the more than 26% drop they have suffered over the last 15 years."They said they had received "an offer which is in no way credible or even reasonable for where we are in the negotiating process."

They added: "In the end, however, the government would simply not accept the fundamental reality of the pay cuts junior doctors have faced.

Nursing union to ballot its members over fresh strikes
The BMA said they had not received a reasonable offer. Credit: PA

"This was made clear when they finally made their pay offer of 5%.

"Not only is that nowhere near addressing pay erosion over the last 15 years, it would not even have matched inflation this year."

In Scotland, junior doctors have been offered a 14.5% pay uplift over the two-year period 2022-24.If accepted the BMA will postpone the planned strike north of the border.

The BMA said, despite its strike announcement, it expected to meet the Health Secretary on Wednesday for talks.

The government said the move by the BMA was "surprising and deeply disappointing."

A spokesperson said: "It is both surprising and deeply disappointing that the BMA Junior Doctors Committee has declared further strike action while constructive talks were ongoing.

"These will be hugely disruptive for patients and put pressure on other NHS staff.

"We made a fair and reasonable opening offer, and were in active discussions about both pay and non-pay issues.

"Unfortunately, it seems the BMA is unwilling to move meaningfully away from their unaffordable headline demands on pay.

"The government has been clear that strikes must be paused while talks take place, so while the BMA has chosen to end our current discussions, we remain ready to continue them at any point if strikes are called off."

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