NHS consultants in England vote to end strikes after improved pay offer

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Senior NHS doctors in England have accepted a pay offer from the government, drawing a line under an industrial dispute that has dragged on for more than a year.

Some 83 per cent of consultants belonging to the British Medical Association backed the deal, after a previous proposal was rejected in January, the union said on Friday.

The BMA said the new offer consisted of an extra £3,000 for senior doctors between four and seven years into their careers, equivalent to a 2.85 per cent uplift, in addition to a 6 per cent rise awarded last year.

The deal — on which 62 per cent of eligible union members voted — also included a review of the pay scale for consultants, and changes to the decision-making process of the independent board that reviews salaries.

In January, BMA consultant members narrowly rejected an offer that included a 4.95 per cent “investment in pay” for the 2023-24 financial year. That offer applied only to consultants with more than seven years’ experience.

Dr Vishal Sharma, BMA consultants committee chair, said that “after years of repeated real-terms pay cuts, caused by government interference and a failure of the pay review process, consultants have spoken and now clearly feel that this offer is enough of a first step to address our concerns.  

“This is only the end of the beginning, and we have some way to go before the pay consultants have lost over the last 15 years has been restored,” Sharma added. “All eyes will be on this year’s pay review round.”

The government was contacted for comment.

Ministers remain locked in an impasse with junior doctors in England, who walked out for five days in February and voted overwhelmingly to continue with strike action until mid-September last month.

Walkouts over pay by healthcare staff since December 2022 have added to strains on the NHS in England, resulting in the cancellation of more than 1.4mn surgeries and appointments.

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Data published by the Office for National Statistics this week showed about one in five adults in England awaiting hospital appointments or treatments, with one in seven people in need of treatment waiting for at least a year.

Consultants have been calling for an above-inflation salary increase this year to begin addressing 15 years of wage erosion. In July, the government granted consultants a 6 per cent pay rise for the previous year. Junior doctors also received a £1,250 payment integrated into their base salary.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which speaks for frontline health managers, welcomed the BMA’s announcement on Friday. But he warned that “the potential for further junior doctor strikes looms large, which could lead to more operations and appointments being cancelled and place more pressure on already stretched services. 

“We urge the BMA junior doctors committee and government to quickly re-enter negotiations to reach a similar agreement to stop further damaging strike action by junior doctors,” he added.