Starmer gives doctors 48 hours to cancel strike or lose new jobs package

The prime minister has given the British Medical Association (BMA) 48 hours to call off the six-day doctor strike in England after Easter or face losing 1,000 extra training places.

Last week the BMA called the strike after rejecting a deal which would see doctors receive a 3.5% pay rise this year, some expenses including exam fees paid for, and an increase in the number of training posts.

The union said this was not enough, given inflation is expected to rise, and that pay for resident doctors has not kept pace with inflation since 2008.

Writing in the Times, Sir Keir Starmer said the decision to announce the 15th walkout of the long-running dispute was "reckless".

The 1,000 extra training places, which were to be created this year, were part of a package of government measures that would see a total of at least 4,000 extra speciality posts created over the next three years.

Out-of-pocket expenses for things like exam fees were also to be covered, while progression through the five resident doctors pay bands was to be speeded up.

Talks had been taking place since the start of January following two strikes in November and December. The 3.5% rise that is coming to them in April was recommended by the independent pay review body and covers all doctors.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting had always maintained he could not offer resident doctors more pay after they were given rises totalling nearly 30% in the past three years.

He said that the deal meant "for the most experienced resident doctors, basic pay would have increased to £77,348 and average earnings would have exceeded £100,000".

Meanwhile, he said, new graduates entering the profession would earn on average £12,000 more annually than three years ago.

In his article in The Times, Starmer said the BMA should put the deal to members.

"Walking away from this deal is the wrong decision. It is a reckless decision. And doing so without even giving resident doctors themselves the chance to vote on it makes it even worse.

"Because the truth is this: no one benefits from rejecting this deal."

The 48-hour deadline is because the applications for these training posts, which start in the summer, would open in April so Thursday is the last day they can be added into the system, the government says.

BMA resident doctor committee chair Dr Jack Fletcher accused the government of "shifting the goal posts" of the deal at the last minute.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said making "threats about withholding jobs from doctors" at a time the NHS was already under strain, was clearly bad for patients.

"I don't think it's a realistic or credible way to end this dispute. It will end in a negotiating room," he said.

Pointing to what he called "decades of pay erosion", Dr Fletcher said "all we're asking for is a reversal of that".

He added that if the government were willing to offer a "credible" deal, the strikes could be called off.

It's the 15th walkout since the long-running dispute started in March 2023.

The strike is due to begin at 07:00 BST next Tuesday. It will be the joint longest since the dispute began - only once before have resident doctors taken part in a six-day walkout.

Resident doctors make up nearly half of medics working in the NHS - two thirds of them are BMA members.

The two sides have been in talks on-and-off for the past year.

The BMA argues that, despite the pay rises of the last three years, resident doctors' pay is still a fifth lower than it was in 2008, once inflation is taken into account.

The union has also said there is a jobs shortage when doctors move into specialist training at the start of year three - this is when they choose what area of medicine, such as general practice or surgery, they want to specialise in.

Last summer there were 30,000 applicants for around 10,000 jobs, although some of those were doctors applying from abroad.

This is why expanding training posts has been a critical part of the talks.

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