Junior doctors in England offer to call off strike if given more time for talks
A planned strike by junior doctors in England later this month could be called off if NHS bosses give permission for further time for negotiations, the British Medical Association has said.
The trade union for doctors and medical students announced the strikes after it said the government had “failed to meet the deadline to put an improved pay offer on the table”.
Thousands of medics will strike in England for five days from 7am on 24 February until 11.59pm on 28 February.
Now the BMA has written to the leaders of NHS Employers asking for them to increase the period during which it is allowed to hold strike action in order for further pay negotiations to take place.
In a letter to Danny Mortimer, the chief executive of NHS Employers, the BMA chair of council, Prof Philip Banfield, has asked him to agree to the extension, which he can do on behalf of hospital trusts.
He said in the letter: “In return for this agreement the BMA junior doctors committee is prepared to cancel the planned strike action for 24 to 28 February, providing space for the government to negotiate with us during the next two weeks.”
The BMA suggests that if NHS Employers agree to the request, it will allow the health secretary, Victoria Atkins, and the government more time to “present a credible pay offer” to junior doctors.
The government has previously said that it was not willing to negotiate while strike dates were pending.
The BMA has also not ruled out further strike action after these dates, with junior doctors in England previously staging the longest strike in NHS history in January, for six full days from 3 January to 9 January.
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The latest round will be the 10th strike by junior doctors since March 2023.
The BMA has said the “glacial speed of progress” over pay with the government was “frustrating and incomprehensible”.
It has said the new round of strikes would be the last on their current mandate, which expires at the end of February. However, it is balloting on extending the mandate by a further six months.
Atkins said: “This action called by the BMA junior doctor committee does not signal that they are ready to be reasonable.
“We already provided them with a pay increase of up to 10.3% and were prepared to go further.
“We urged them to put an offer to their members, but they refused. We are also open to further discussions on improving doctors’ and the wider workforce’s working lives.”
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, accused Rishi Sunak of “personally blocking a deal with the junior doctors”.
The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, told broadcasters he wanted the government to “negotiate and bring this to an end”.
Thousands of NHS appointments and operations are likely to be cancelled during the fresh round of strikes, after the six-day action in January led to more than 100,000 appointments being put on hold.
Sir Julian Hartley, the chief executive of NHS Providers, described the announcement of further strikes as “another body blow for leaders of NHS services already stretched to the limit”.
“Patients having to wait even longer for the care they need is a huge concern,” he said.
Junior doctors have received a pay rise averaging nearly 9% this financial year.
The BMA has been asking for 35% “pay restoration” as its starting position, but has said it is willing to negotiate.
Junior doctors make up about half of the NHS doctor workforce.
Junior doctor members of the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) will also strike from 24 February until 28 February.