Junior doctors in England vote to accept government pay offer after long dispute

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By Catarina Demony

LONDON (Reuters) -Junior doctors in England accepted a pay deal on Monday made by the government, a breakthrough that follows a series of strikes, including the longest walkout in the history of the National Health Service (NHS) earlier this year.

Junior doctors, who are qualified physicians, often have several years of experience and make up a large share of the medical staff.

The British Medical Association (BMA) said in a statement 66% of junior doctors, who have been in dispute over more than a decade of pay cuts since October 2022, voted in favour of the government pay offer.

The pay uplift is worth 22.3% over two years, the BMA said, adding the government has also committed to work with the association to streamline the way in which junior doctors report additional hours they work.

“It should never have taken so long to get here, but we have shown what can be accomplished with our determination and with a government willing to simply sit down and talk realistically about a path to pay restoration,” said junior doctors committee co-chairs, Robert Laurenson and Vivek Trivedi. “One strike was one strike too many.”

The issue has exemplified Britain’s labour unrest over the last two years as high inflation and a cost-of-living crisis spurred demands for better pay across a wide range of sectors, with strikes by doctors among the most disruptive.

The offer made by the Labour government follows several rounds of unsuccessful talks between the BMA and the previous Conservative government.

The government’s health department said the price of not settling the pay dispute had “catastrophic impacts” on the economy, on patients and the nation’s health, with over 1.5 million appointments cancelled.

“Ending this chaos is a necessary first step in turning around the NHS,” the government said, adding pay changes were expected to be reflected in November pay packets.

The cumulative impact of the uplifts mean a doctor starting foundation training in the NHS will see their basic pay increase to £36,600 ($48,333.96), compared to around £32,400 before the deal, the government said.

(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Nick Zieminski)