The British Medical Association (BMA) says the striking medical trainees could meet with the health secretary as early as this afternoon to discuss pay increases.
Dr. Vivek Trivedi, co-chair of the BMA junior physicians committee, said he hoped talks with Steve Barclay could begin soon. This comes after a breakthrough was reached between the government and 14 health unions on pay increases for about a million NHS workers.
Thursday’s offer to other NHS workers is a £2.5bn permanent 5% increase in all benefits for 2023/24.
Days of negotiations between health workers’ unions and the government ensued, raising hopes of ending the longstanding dispute.
Now attention is turning to the scandal surrounding young doctors who this week went on strike for 72 hours without essentials and promised more union action.
The BMA is calling for a “wage restoration” for young doctors with years of experience, who make up about 45 percent of the medical staff. Their wages have fallen by 26.1 percent in real terms since 2008/2009, and a 35.3 percent wage increase would be required to reverse this.
Dr. Trivedi said: “Our position is that we remain open at all times to speak honestly and meaningfully. We were ready to talk a few months ago.
“Our formal dispute began over 150 days ago, and I mean it because it disappoints me that it took Steve Barclay so long to sit down at the negotiating table. I just hope he comes in good faith and with a negotiating mandate.
“At the moment we have not set a time for this day, but there has been some correspondence between our offices, so it looks like we can agree on something in the near future.”
Mr Barclay urged would-be doctors to follow the lead of other health unions, which said Thursday they would recommend a pay deal for NHS workers, including nurses and emergency workers. Unite is the only union so far that has said it will not recommend a deal, but added that the final decision rests with the members.
Mr. Barclay said: “We have offered the trainee doctors the same conditions that have been accepted by other unions, and I hope that the trainee doctors will respond.”
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said on Thursday that the government hopes to reach a similar salary agreement with young doctors. “The same proposal exists. I think it’s right if they accept it. I hope they will,” he added.
“I think it’s a good deal, a fair one that recognizes the situation they’re in and recognizes the need for us all to close the gap in the NHS.”
The Treasury, the Department of Health and the NHS will now start negotiations over who will fund the new proposal. This year’s initial wage offer of 3.5% was higher than originally planned by the government and NHS funds were meant to fill a gap in existing budgets.
Rishi Sunak insisted that frontline services would be “absolutely unaffected” by the final pay deal, while Mr Barclay said funding from the deal would not come from patients.
Union members are currently voting on whether to accept the deal for workers, including nurses and paramedics, and are expected to review the details in the coming days and weeks. The tender has already canceled the planned strikes.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the NHS is not “just throwing money around” to fund the wage proposal itself. He said that “it’s very important that over the next few days we figure out how we’re going to cover these additional costs.”
He added: “The government said in a press release that the cost of this will be paid without compromising patient care or quality of care. Well, that’s a good guarantee. And we want it to be delivered in the next few days.
“There is no way the NHS can raise £1.5bn, £2.5bn without compromising patient care or quality of care. We don’t just have money.”
Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary, said officials negotiating pay increases on behalf of NHS workers have been told that the proposed 5 percent pay increase from April will not be funded from existing health budgets.
She said: “That was one of the conditions that the GMB and some of the other unions set before we entered the room. We wanted confirmation that this was extra money and that it would not come from current NHS budgets, and that was the commitment the government made to us.”
Source: I News
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