Resident doctors in Scotland begin ballot for strike action

Resident doctors in Scotland are voting to go on strike after claiming government ministers had reneged on a pay deal.

BMA Scotland said the proposed increase of 4.25% for 2025/26 would have been the lowest in the UK and lower than that recommended by the independent pay review body.

But Health Secretary Neil Gray said it was a “fair, affordable and equitable pay offer” and urged members to reject the strike.

He said the Scottish Government had invested significantly in resident doctors’ pay over the past two years and added that any industrial action would hamper its efforts to reduce waiting times.

Scotland’s resident doctors – previously known as junior doctors – were set to strike in the summer of 2023, but the action was called off after a new pay offer.

As part of the latest agreement, BMA Scotland said the government was committed to making “credible progress” towards restoring wages to 2008 levels, in each of the following three financial years.

A newly qualified ‘base year’ doctor’s salary currently starts at £34,500, rising to £42,792 in their second year, with the pay scale for resident doctors starting at £45,503.

The strike vote will be open from Friday to December 19. If there is a positive vote, industrial action will likely take place in the first weeks of the new year.

Voting opens as resident doctors in England begin five-day strike.

Dr Chris Smith, chair of the BMA’s Scottish Resident Doctors Committee, said: “Doctors have been shocked that the Scottish Government appears intent on rejecting the progress made in restoring our pay over the last two years and are clear that they will stand up to protect the deal which has been reached in good faith by both parties.

“As always, we are ready to negotiate anytime, anywhere. But we will not stand idly by while the Scottish Government tries to break the deal it has with Scottish resident doctors in 2023.”

He said November 14 was a “hugely important day” for resident doctors in Scotland and south of the border.

“I know I speak for all Scottish doctors when I say we stand with them,” he said.

“The Scottish Government now has the opportunity to draw a line between itself and Westminster, and all that is required is a return to the status quo: back in the negotiating room with BMA Scotland, in good faith and with a credible pay offer, consistent with the promises they made in the deal we signed.”

He added: “So far, Scotland has been the only country in the UK to avoid industrial action and it is time to avoid industrial action – but only if the Scottish Government honors the commitment it has made. »

Dr Smith said the Scottish Government’s response had been “disappointing” and that it had ignored the BMA’s requests for further negotiations.

“I hope that this time the government will take the necessary steps to reverse its decisions which put NHS Scotland on the path to disruptive strike action,” he added.

Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “Industrial action would not be in anyone’s best interests, least of all the patients who rely on our NHS. I encourage resident doctors to reject this option.

“Our fair, affordable and equitable pay offer of 4.25% for 2025/26, with a further 3.75% for 2026/27, is the same offer that nurses and other NHS staff chose to accept earlier this year.

“We value the role resident doctors play in delivering care and have invested significantly in their remuneration over the past two years, agreeing to the highest pay awards in the public sector – an increase of 12.4% for 2023/24 and a cumulative increase of 11% for 2024/25.

“These awards were justified as we begin the process of securing a deal for 2023 that we are absolutely committed to honoring.”

He said the Scottish Government had already invested a further £135.5 million to reduce waiting times.

“The latest figures show that our plan aims to reduce the overall size of waiting lists. Any industrial action by resident doctors would hamper our progress in this direction,” he added.

If resident doctors go on strike it will be extremely disruptive and deadly for the Scottish Government.

It would be the first major walkout by NHS staff in Scotland. So far it is the only region in the UK to have avoided industrial action.

Resident doctors make up almost half of the medical staff and range from newly qualified doctors to those with decades of experience.

Strikes in England have led to the cancellation of thousands of appointments and operations, with further disruption expected as a new five-day strike begins on Friday.

Any strike action would deal a major blow to the Scottish Government’s key promise to eliminate long waits for procedures and appointments by March next year.

And it would put further pressure on an already strained NHS in an election year.

The withdrawal of resident doctors is not inevitable, but it is getting closer.