Junior doctors offered 22% rise in bid to settle dispute

The government has offered junior doctors a pay uplift worth around 20 per cent over two years to end their long-running industrial action.

The British Medical Association’s junior doctors committee is set to recommended the offer to members who will vote on whether to accept and end their dispute, several reports said.

HSJ understands the deal is worth a 22.3% cash terms pay increase over two years.

Reports said it included a backdated pay rise of 4.05% for 2023-24, on top of the existing deal of 8.8-10.3% depending on role or level. Then for 2024-25, the offer is for a 6% rise, and an additional one-off consolidated £1,000 payment—equating to a 7-9% rise.

If the deal is rejected by members, then industrial action could continue until at least September, when the junior doctors’ latest mandate is due to expire, days before the Labour party’s annual conference in Liverpool. The first strike was in March 2023.

The Government has not yet confirmed details of the offer, nor how it will be funded. NHS funding assumptions for 2024-25 only cover uplifts of 2%.

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Source: HSJ, 29 July 2024