Junior doctors have scheduled a five-day strike in July. Credit: Guy Smallman/Getty Images Europe
Junior doctors in England are set to be offered an additional payment of around £1,000 as government ministers seek to end a long strike, according to The Telegraph.
The relevant body for Salary Review proposed a payment in addition to a wider salary increase for physicians for the 2023/24 financial year.
The Telegraph understands that the ministers intend to accept the recommendation even as efforts continue to be made to cap public sector wages to curb inflation.
The British Medical Association (BMA) is demanding a 35 percent wage increase this year to offset the fall in real wages since the financial crisis. The union announced the longest strike period for junior doctors next month as they leave for five days from 7:00 am on July 13 and 7:00 am on July 18.
Ministers are seeking to end the strike amid concerns over continued domino impact on patients and ongoing shortage of NHS staff.
The long-term NHS workforce plan will be released this week. One measure would be to double the number of places in medical schools from 7,500 to 15,000.
A source in Whitehall told this paper: “Steve [Barclay, Secretary of Health] wants to fix this problem. Strikes don't help anyone. He would like to solve this problem, but you cannot agree to an unbearable wage increase. Thirty-five percent is simply not affordable.”
Negotiations between the Ministry of Health and the BMA failed. A spokesman for the BMA declined to comment whether the new emerging pay stance would lead to the cancellation of strikes.
Controversy
Controversy arises as Downing Street and the Treasury try to hold on to a stance on limiting public wages in the sector increases as this year he is fighting to halve the inflation rate.
Rishi Sunak reaffirmed his stance in an interview with BBC One Sunday with Laura Kuensberg, saying that he would have to take unpopular measures to slow down the rise in prices.
Mr Sunak said: «It makes no sense for me to do anything which sounds popular and beautiful today, for example, about salaries in the public sector. With one hand I would give and with the other we would simply take through higher inflation and interest rates.
“This is not the type of leadership the country needs and I am not going to do it. do».
Wages for public sector workers are set by the government, but only after a number of different independent pay control bodies make official recommendations to ministers.
Pay agreement for the vast majority of healthcare workers, including nurses, pandemics . physiotherapists and support staff have already been announced for this year. But the payment of doctors remains unresolved.
The Telegraph can provide details of the official recommendation put forward by the Physicians and Dentists Remuneration Review Authority (DDRB).
It proposes a 6% salary increase for medical workers for 2023/24, which will last from April 2023 to March 2024. Any pay increase will be backdated to April.
However, it is believed that an additional special payment of around £1,000 has been offered specifically for junior doctors. The exact amount is not known, but it is believed to be around £1,000.
The pay proposal is for England only, given that health policy has been referred to the Parliaments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Approximately 70,000 junior doctors in England will benefit.
The payment is also considered «consolidated», meaning it is not a one-off bonus but will be continuously added to junior doctors' salaries for years to come.
The approach is similar to that used for nurses who were given a percentage increase in pay as well as additional pay in a recent pay deal. With this in mind, ministers are expected to accept the proposal.
Wage cuts
This approach benefits those with lower wages disproportionately, as the exact figure will have a proportionally greater impact on people with smaller pay packages.
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It is not yet known when the move will become public. Ministers have not formally made decisions and approaches will be consistent with number 10 and number 11.
There have been speculations that for some public sector workers, the Treasury may end up signing deals below the recommendations of the pay review body, given the pressure on inflation.
It is possible that Downing Street decides to announce decisions on all public sector wages as early as next month or as early as the fall.
It is also unclear if this approach will change the BMA's decision to strike. , given that even the expanded package for junior doctors is way below the required 35 percent increase.
Last week, BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs Dr. Robert Lorenson and Dr. Vivek Trivedi announced the longest single strike junior doctors in NHS history.
The couple said at the time: «Even now, the government can prevent our actions by coming to the negotiating table with a credible wage restoration proposal.» Restoring wages could stop the flood of job postings in Australia on doctors' social media feeds — and result in 75 years of doctors being paid fairly, in a revitalized workforce and in the NHS, something this country can continue to be proud of.» .
A Health A department spokesman said the pay review body's recommendation had been received and would be released in due course, but declined to comment further.
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