Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (): I am pleased to inform the
House that the Government and the British Medical Association's
Resident Doctors Committee (BMA RDC) have agreed a deal to
resolve their dispute on pay and training places, bringing an end
to a period of industrial action that has seen 21 days of strike
action in the past year. This follows a referendum of all
resident doctor members of the BMA, in which a majority voted to
accept the deal.
The deal is fair to doctors, affordable for the taxpayer and in
the best interests of patients. Resident doctors will benefit
from improved pay scales, better working conditions, enhanced
career progression, and up to 4,500 new training places over the
next three years.
I am incredibly grateful to staff across NHS who have kept NHS
going during the recent rounds of industrial action. The absence
of strikes by resident doctors will allow the NHS to focus on
supporting patients and improving working conditions for all
staff, rather than managing disruptive industrial action. When
unions and the government work together, patients, staff, and
services benefit.
The deal means resident doctors will be on average 35.2% better
off than they were four years ago. It also means resident doctors
will benefit from pay structure reform, leading to more frequent
pay progression as they develop and gain additional skills which
benefits the health service.
Up to 4,500 additional training places will also be created,
giving more resident doctors the opportunity to progress in their
careers to more senior roles. This builds on the Medical Training
(Prioritisation) Act, which now means UK medical graduates, and
doctors with significant NHS experience, are prioritised for
Foundation and Specialty training posts, which has halved
competition ratios from 4:1 to just 2:1.
The offer will also put money back in doctors' pockets, tackling
the unique costs resident doctors experience through the
reimbursement of mandatory Royal College portfolio and
examinations fees, and will improve working conditions for
Locally Employed Doctors and those who work less than full time.
Taken together, these measures recognise the vital contribution
resident doctors make every day, while supporting the long-term
sustainability of the NHS workforce. These changes are not simply
investments in doctors. They are investments in patient care.
I want this agreement to mark the beginning of a new chapter of
cooperation with resident doctors.
We must now begin to implement this deal and embed a new working
relationship so that the NHS remains a place where doctors can
thrive and develop.
This government is getting the NHS back on its feet and making it
fit for the future. Waiting lists have fallen by 400,000 since we
took office, satisfaction with general practice has increased
from 60% to 76% and ambulances are arriving faster. The
acceptance of this deal by resident doctors today is a
significant milestone on that road to recovery.
