Agreement will see largest Junior Doctor pay investment for 20 years
A record 12.4% pay increase for junior doctors and dentists in training for 2023–24 has been accepted British Medical Association (BMA) Scotland members.
Together with the pay raise of 4.5% awarded in 2022–23, this amounts to a total increase of 17.5% over two years.
The deal also includes a commitment to future years pay, contract and pay bargaining modernisation and it brings to an end the threat of industrial action.
Health Secretary Michael Matheson said: “I am very pleased that BMA members have overwhelmingly voted to accept this record pay deal for Junior Doctors. This is the single biggest investment in Junior Doctor pay since devolution, and maintains our commitment to make Scotland the best place in the UK for Junior Doctors to work and train.
“Due to the meaningful engagement we have had with trade unions, we have avoided any industrial action in Scotland – the only part of the UK to avoid NHS strikes.
“We will now implement this pay uplift, and will work with BMA to take forward the other aspects of the deal including contract and pay bargaining reform.”
This pay deal represents a £61.3 million investment in Junior Doctor pay – the largest in the last 20 years and the best offer in the UK – and means a doctor at the beginning of their career would receive a salary increase of £3,429 in 2023–24.
For those at the end of their training the rise would be £7,111 over the same period.
Industrial action suspended as improved offer to be put to union members
A record 12.4% pay increase for junior doctors and doctors in training for 2023/24 has been agreed with the British Medical Association.
Following discussions with Health Secretary Michael Matheson this afternoon, BMA Scotland have agreed to suspend strike action while they consult their members on this deal.
Coupled with the pay raise of 4.5% awarded in 2022/23, this amounts to a cumulative increase of 17.5% over two years.
The deal also includes a commitment to future years pay, contract and pay bargaining modernisation.
Health Secretary Michael Matheson said: “Following months of negotiations with BMA Scotland, I am delighted that we have agreed a pay deal for 2023/24 for our Junior Doctors. BMA have agreed to suspend strike action in Scotland while they consult with their members.
“I hope this investment and the significant commitments we have given around pay and contract reform will show Junior Doctors how much we value them, and that we are determined to ensure that Scotland is the place for Junior Doctors to work and train.
“Some patients may have been contacted to say their treatment has been cancelled. We are working hard with health boards to make sure appointments that can go ahead do, and that any others are rescheduled as soon as possible.”
Next week’s planned Scottish junior doctor industrial action has been suspended after the latest period of intense negotiations ended with BMA Scotland agreeing to put an improved offer from the Scottish Government to its members.
This year, Junior Doctors will receive a pay rise of 12.4%. For the following three financial years, Junior Doctors will receive a guaranteed minimum pay uplift of inflation every year. Over this three-year period, the Scottish Government has committed to negotiate further annual pay rises on top of inflation that must, “make credible progress on the path towards pay restoration”.
In addition, BMA Scotland will enter contract negotiations with the Scottish Government from Autumn 2023 with the aim of improving the working and training conditions of Junior Doctors in Scotland by April 2026.
As part of these negotiations, they will agree a new Pay Review mechanism, the aim of which is to reach a “mutually agreeable path to achieve pay restoration and prevent erosion recurring in the future”.
This mechanism once established should complete the process of restoring Junior Doctor pay and ensure it is protected against any recurrence of pay erosion in the long term.
On this basis, the BMA’s Scottish Junior Doctor Committee (SJDC) yesterday agreed unanimously that it would recommend members accept the offer in a consultative vote in the coming weeks.
Speaking after a full meeting of the committee, where the decision to put the offer to members was made, Dr Chris Smith, chair of SJDC, said: “This has been an intense period of negotiation with the Scottish Government.
“At this stage, our negotiating team feel they have reached the limit of what can be achieved this year and do not think strike action would result in a materially improved offer. As a result, we have agreed to suspend next week’s strikes and put this offer to our members.
“This offer commits the government to working with doctors to restore our pay and prevent pay erosion from occurring in the future.
“This is an unprecedented shift from the Scottish Government, which is a recognition of the huge decline in real terms pay that doctors have experienced over the past fifteen years, and the huge amount of work needed to undo the damage this has caused to the NHS.
“By agreeing to address the way our pay has been cut, and setting out a clear mechanism for doing so, the Government is making a serious, welcome commitment to ensuring that pay for Junior Doctors in Scotland is restored to a fair level.
“The agreement is clear that the increases above inflation over the next three years must be substantial enough in real terms to make credible progress on the path towards pay restoration.
“We will now deliver wide ranging and comprehensive details of the offer to members over the coming days and will open a fresh consultative vote as soon as we can.
“While we have suspended next week’s strikes, our mandate to strike still has months to run, so all options will remain open. Indeed, regardless of the outcome of the consultative vote, the collective power junior doctors have demonstrated by consistently and powerfully speaking up on behalf of the profession should ensure that we are never again taken for granted as we have been for the last 15 years.”
The Scottish Government says the pay deal represents a £61.3 million investment in Junior Doctor pay – the largest in the last 20 years and the best offer in the UK – and means a doctor at the beginning of their career would receive a salary increase of £3,429 in 2023/24. For those at the end of their training the rise would be £7,111 over the same period.
Junior doctors across Scotland have been offered a 14.5% pay uplift over the two year period 2022-24, following negotiations with BMA Scotland.
This represents a £61.3 million investment in junior doctor pay – the largest in the last 20 years and the best offer in the UK.
If accepted, the new and final offer will be a pay raise of 6.5% in 2023/24, as well as an additional 3% towards an already agreed 4.5% uplift in 2022/23. This amounts to a cumulative increase of 14.5% over two years and matches the recent pay award accepted by nurses and other NHS workers in 2023.
This offer means a doctor at the beginning of their career would receive a total salary increase of £3,834 over two years. For those at the end of their training the rise would be £7,951 over the same period.
Health Secretary Michael Matheson said: “After weeks of intense negotiations I’m delighted our government and BMA Scotland have come to an agreement on pay which they will now put to their members.
“Recognising the incredible work that junior doctors do, we have offered a fair and progressive rise which will mean a pay increase of 14.5% over two years – the best offer on the table in the UK.
“We have taken their concerns regarding pay, and the need to modernise pay bargaining more broadly, extremely seriously. It’s now up to junior doctors to reflect on this final offer, and I hope they will accept.”
Junior doctors in Scotland have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action over pay following a five week ballot of BMA Scotland members.
With more than 5000 junior doctors in Scotland eligible to vote, turnout was in excess of 71% – with a total of 3610 votes cast, and almost 97% in favour of strike action.
While negotiations with the Scottish Government over pay are ongoing BMA Scotland will use this clear mandate for strike action to push forward in our ongoing efforts to reverse the unacceptable pay erosion junior doctors in Scotland have suffered for more than a decade.
Should the Scottish Government not put forward a credible offer that the BMA believes could be put to members, junior doctors in Scotland would then begin preparations for a 72-hour walkout at dates to be confirmed in due course.
Dr Chris Smith, chair of the BMA’s Scottish Junior Doctors Committee, said: “This ballot result shows, beyond doubt, that junior doctors in Scotland have had enough.
“Years of pay erosion have seen the take home salary of a newly qualified FY1 doctor decline by 23.5% in real-terms compared to 2008, and the pay of an average registrar reduced by 23.9%. This is simply unacceptable, and we are no longer prepared to stand aside, feeling overworked and undervalued, while witnessing so many junior doctors seeking employment abroad or outside the NHS where our considerable skills are properly valued.
“Investing in today’s junior doctors by paying them the salary they deserve is essentially making a down payment on the future of Scotland’s NHS – today’s junior doctors are the GPs, specialist doctors and consultants of the future. Without a serious plan to reverse pay erosion, these doctors will go on leaving Scotland’s NHS, undermining any plans to build a sustainable NHS for generations to come.
“We have made, and continue to make, progress with Scottish Government in formal negotiations on pay, but there is still some work to do before there is an offer that we believe could be credibly put to members.
“In the meantime – we will use this mandate to urge the Cabinet Secretary to signal a clear commitment to investing in the future of Scottish junior doctors, to make Scotland’s NHS an attractive place to train, grow and progress our careers, and show us that the work we do is finally properly, and fairly, valued and appreciated.
“We are not asking for huge pay increases – we are simply asking for a tangible step towards addressing the pay erosion our profession has suffered for well over a decade, combined with a clear plan for this to be reversed and restored.
“Should a credible pay offer not be forthcoming in the wake of this overwhelming mandate, our members are clear that they would have no choice but to stage a 72-hour walkout of all services across Scotland’s NHS.”
Health Secretary Michael Matheson said that he was disappointed with the junior doctors’ ballot decision but said the Scottish Government will continue to negotiatw with BMA Scotland to find a resolution.
