Keir Starmer hits out as union bosses snub medical doctors’ 7% pay rise in 48 hour strike deadline row
The Prime Minister has given the resident doctors committee of the British Medical Association a 48-hour deadline to reconsider the government’s pay offer
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has hit out at “reckless” resident doctors(Image: Peter Nicholls/PA Wire)
Keir Starmer has criticised resident doctors for “recklessly” abandoning a government pay deal without presenting it to members for a vote. The Prime Minister has issued the resident doctors committee of the British Medical Association (BMA) a 48-hour ultimatum to reconsider the offer, which would have granted medics a pay increase of up to 7.1 per cent this year.
The agreement would also introduce reforms to pay progression, reimbursements for the cost of Royal College exams and an additional 4,500 speciality training places over three years.
Of these positions, 1,000 would have been available for applications this month, but the PM has now cautioned they “will be gone if this deal isn’t put to a vote on Thursday”.
However, the BMA said that the government had “moved the goalposts on the deal at the last minute”.
Mr Starmer said: “The truth is this: no one benefits from rejecting this deal. Resident doctors will be worse off. Instead of improved pay, progression and support, they will receive the standard pay award this year, with none of the reforms that would have strengthened their working lives.
“That is why walking away from this deal is the wrong decision. It is reckless. And doing so without even giving resident doctors the chance to vote on it makes it worse.”
“Progress slows. Waiting times fall more slowly. Pressure on staff increases. That is what makes this so frustrating – and so completely avoidable. So I say this to the BMA’s resident doctors’ committee: reconsider.”
He urged the BMA to put the deal to a vote, cautioning that failure to do so would result in “patients paying the price”.
Addressing the resident doctors, he added: “There are still 48 hours left to choose a better path. For patients, the NHS, and our doctors – I urge you to take it.”
The walk out, scheduled to begin at 7am on April 7 and run until 6.59am on April 13, will be the 15th round of strikes by resident doctors in England since 2023.
The union indicated its intention to hold talks with the government on Tuesday, with “every intention of achieving a meaningful outcome that could see the strikes called off”.
Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of the BMA resident doctors committee, said: “The government made very late changes to the pay offer, reducing the pay investment and stretching it over a longer period in a way that had not been previously talked about. Ministers effectively moved the goalposts on the deal at the last minute.”
In a separate development, the BMA announced that senior doctors in England will be balloted on potential industrial action.
The union confirmed that ballots will run from May 11 to July 6, as both sets of medics escalate their disputes with the government.
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