Junior doctors have voted to accept a pay deal after two years of strikes which brought the NHS to its knees.
The deal from the Government will see their pay increase by 22.3 per cent on average over two years, the British Medical Association (BMA) has said.
Junior doctors in England have taken industrial action 11 times in the past 22 months, with their last strike just days before the general election.
Their last strike, which took place from June 27 to July 2, affected 61,989 appointments, procedures and operations, according to NHS England.
In a statement the BMA said: ‘The BMA’s junior doctors committee (JDC) in England has accepted the Government’s pay offer, with 66% of junior doctors voting in favour of the deal.’
Junior doctors on strike in June 2024. The doctors have voted to accept a pay deal after two years of strikes which brought the NHS to its knees
Health Secretary Wes Streeting. The British Medical Association said that ‘Mr Streeting has acknowledged our pay has fallen behind and has talked about a journey to pay restoration’
The statement added: ‘Outside the pay negotiations, the Government has agreed that from September 18 ‘junior doctors’ across the UK will be known as ‘resident doctors’ to better reflect their expertise.
‘This follows a motion to the BMA’s annual policy making conference in 2023 when doctors voted in favour of a name change.’
The BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs, Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, said: ‘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. One strike was one strike too many.
‘This deal marks the end of 15 years of pay erosion with the beginning of two years of modest above inflation pay rises. There is still a long way to go, with doctors remaining 20.8% in real terms behind where we were in 2008.
‘Mr Streeting has acknowledged our pay has fallen behind and has talked about a journey to pay restoration.
‘He believes the independent pay review body is the right vehicle for this, and if he is right then no doctor need strike over pay in future.
‘However, in the event the pay review body disappoints, he needs to be prepared for the consequences.
‘The resident doctors committee, as we will be called, will be using the next months to prepare to build on their success so that future cohorts of doctors never again need to see the kind of pay cuts we have.
‘We thank all doctors who have seen us through to this point by standing on picket lines and fighting for their worth. The campaign is not over, but we, and they, can be proud of how far we have come.’
Mr Streeting with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he is ‘pleased’ the BMA has accepted the Government’s pay deal
Junior doctors on a picket line outside St Thomas’ Hospital in London in January 2024. Industrial action involving junior doctors first began in March 2023 when the BMA asked the then-Tory government for a 35 per cent pay rise
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he is ‘pleased’ the BMA has accepted the Government’s pay deal.
He said: ‘We inherited a broken NHS, the most devastating dispute in the health service’s history, and negotiations hadn’t taken place with the previous ministers since March.
‘Things should never have been allowed to get this bad. That’s why I made ending the strikes a priority, and we negotiated an end to them in just three weeks.
‘I am pleased that our offer has been accepted, ending the strikes ahead of looming winter pressures on the NHS.
‘This marks the necessary first step in our mission to cut waiting lists, reform the broken health service, and make it fit for the future.’
Industrial action involving junior doctors first began in March 2023 when the BMA asked the then-Tory government for a 35 per cent pay rise.
Since then the continued industrial action has brought the NHS to its knees. In July, MailOnline reported that a staggering 1,486,258 appointments have been postponed since NHS industrial action began.
Junior doctors on strike in July 2023. The pay rise comes ahead of plans backed by the Health Secretary to drop the title of junior doctor all together in favour of the new term resident doctors instead
Meanwhile the strike action is estimated to have cost taxpayers around £1.7billion.
Junior doctors in Wales have also voted in favour of an improved pay deal.
In Northern Ireland talks are ongoing but no further strikes are currently planned.
Junior doctors have not striked in Scotland after they accepted a pay offer from the devolved government last year.
The pay rise comes ahead of plans backed by the Health Secretary to drop the title of junior doctor all together in favour of the new term resident doctors instead.