Last-minute offer may avert strike by resident doctors

After ministers gave the British Medical Association a new contract, next week's strike by resident doctors in England may be postponed. The doctors' union has decided to spread the word out to members over the coming days; if they accept it, the five-day walkout, which begins on Wednesday 17 December, may be called off. The service includes a rapid rise in specialist training positions as well as covering out-of-pocket costs such as exam fees. However, it does not include any promises of additional compensation. Given that resident doctors, the new term for junior doctors, have seen pay increases of almost 30% in the last three years, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has been adamant that he would not discuss it.

The agreement also includes emergency legislation so that doctors who have studied and worked in the United Kingdom can be prioritised for residency training posts. This year, there was a lot of competition for 10,000 posts, with 30,000 candidates competing for 10,000 positions. Any of those doctors will have been doctors from abroad who are subjected to the same treatment as UK doctors. By 2028, the number of speciality posts will have risen by 4,000, with the first 1,000 of those available from next year. Previously, the government has promised an increase of 2,000. The BMA will now consult with resident doctors to see if this bid is adequate to call off next week's strike. On Monday, a poll of members will go online, concluding just two days before the strike is set to begin.

Streeting 'astounded'

Streeting, who had hoped for the union to call off next week's strike, was sparked by this step. Ministers are concerned that by Monday, hospitals will have to cancel a significant number of medications as part of their efforts to be prepared for the strike. Streeting said he had offered to allow the BMA to extend its mandate, but they could also stage a five-day strike if members did not support the agreement. Streeting said he was astounded that the BMA had not agreed to this considering the challenges hospitals face from flu and other winter threats, which, he said, the threat of strikes next week still looms.I cannot comprehend the wilful casualness with which the BMA's leadership has chosen to inflict this pain on patients, other workers, and the NHS itself,he said.It is one of the BMA's most frustrating episodes in the long history.

The NHS leaders will have to start cancelling other doctors' leave right now to protect potential strikes,

he said, and patients will also be subjected to unnecessary and avoidable disruption as a result of cancelled appointments and services. That's on the BMA.

Doctors begged me to do jobs, especially unfair competition from abroad, and this broad bid would fulfill that request,

he said.

This offer is the result of thousands of resident doctors who have demonstrated that they are able to stand up for their work and its future,

BMA resident doctors committee chairman Dr. Jack Fletcher said. It should not have taken strike action, says the author, but make no mistake: it was strike action that brought us this far.

We have been compelled by the government to acknowledge the severity of the problems and to take action on education numbers and prioritization.

However, this offer does nothing to restore doctors' pay, which is still within the government's ability. Strong said in the Commons that if the BMA turned down the government's bid, he would withdraw it from the government, not to incentivise further strikes. The attack was unacceptable and welcomed the government's invitation, according to Shadow Health Minister Stuart Andrew Andrew. However, he said the Conservatives had warned that providing

inflation-busting pay rises without any conditions at all

would mean unions would come back for more.What if they say no one wants this?

says the author. I'm not sure the government is set for this winter.

The BMA claims that despite pay increases of recent years, salaries are still a fifth lower than it was in 2008 when inflation is factored in. If members indicate in the online poll that the offer is sufficient to call off next week's strikes, a formal referendum of resident doctors will follow. According to the BMA, this will give members time to consider the particulars of the bid and determine whether or not to accept it and end the current conflict. If the survey shows that it is not sufficient to call off strikes, members will go back as planned next week. Get all the headlines you need to start the day with our flagship newsletter. Sign up here.