Scotland’s junior doctors to be offered record pay rise in last-ditch effort to prevent strikes

Daniel Sanderson

Mon, July 3, 2023 

First Minister Humza Yousaf meets patients during a visit to NHS Forth Valley Royal Hospital to mark the 75th anniversary of the NHS

Junior doctors in Scotland will be offered a record pay rise in a last-ditch bid to avoid strike action, which Humza Yousaf admitted would cause turmoil in the NHS.

The First Minister said that in pay talks to take place on Tuesday, he was prepared to offer the biggest pay increase “in the history of devolution” and boost doctors’ salaries by thousands of pounds.

Ministers abandoned their claim that a previous offer - of 14.5 per cent over two years - was the “best and final” deal that would be put on the table as Mr Yousaf floated offering a longer-term settlement or reforming working conditions.

The move came after crisis talks were held over the impact a planned walk-out, due to take place over three days next week, would have on Scotland’s NHS.

Mr Yousaf said he wanted to be “upfront with the public” that the industrial action would cause “major disruption” including the widespread cancellation of operations and appointments.

The Scottish NHS is already facing a major crisis with waiting times for cancer treatment, in accident and emergency departments and for routine operations at record levels.

“I’m prepared to offer junior doctors the biggest ever uplift seen in the history of devolution, and if accepted, it would put thousands of pounds into the pockets of our junior doctors and they will be worth every single penny,” Mr Yousaf said.

“We’ll do everything we can to avoid industrial action. I’m hoping junior doctors will see that offer as a good one.”

The concession came as the Scottish government confirmed senior NHS staff will be given a 6 per cent pay increase following negotiations with the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body.

This means consultants will see their annual salaries increase by at least £5,488.

Cancelled appointments

However, junior doctors are demanding a far larger rise in percentage terms, of as much as 35 per cent, claiming their pay in real terms has been eroded by 28.5 per cent over the past 15 years.

Scotland has so far avoided industrial action in the NHS which has caused major disruption in other parts of the UK, but 71.1 per cent of junior doctors last month voted to reject the Scottish pay offer.

Mr Yousaf added: “I’ll be upfront, we can put in place as much mitigation as we can, but I’m afraid if there is a junior doctors’ strike the impact will be very significant indeed.

“We’re talking about tens of thousands of cancellations of appointments.”

Mr Yousaf made his comments after chairing a resilience meeting with senior ministers and health bosses to plan contingencies in the event of the strikes.

Opposition parties have blamed him for the crisis in the NHS, as he was health secretary before he replaced Nicola Sturgeon.

Dr Chris Smith, the chair of the BMA’s Scottish junior doctors committee, said that doctors expected to walk out next week would be “standing up for the future of the NHS”.

He said:  “Unless we act now and invest in the future of the workforce, we will go on losing doctors to places they are valued properly, compromising the care we can provide to the people of Scotland now and in the future.

“Junior doctors in Scotland have consistently and strongly made clear that the pay offers made so far by the Scottish government are not yet sufficient to demonstrate a commitment to reverse the years of pay erosion we have suffered.”

Junior doctors, who are qualified medics but are still in training, make up 44 per cent of the doctors working in Scotland.

Under the offer rejected by the BMA, from next year they would have earned at least £30,296 for their first year as a qualified doctor, rising to £62,830 for those at the top of the pay scale.

‘Breaking point’

Sandesh Gulhane, a GP and health spokesman for the Scottish Tories, said the health service was at “breaking point” and could not afford strike action.

He added: “Patients are fearful of the enormous added disruption industrial action by junior doctors would cause. The onus is on SNP ministers to reach a deal that prevents them going ahead – and it’s to be hoped this 11th-hour offer does so.

“Our shattered junior doctors are paying for years of dire workforce planning by the SNP – and they clearly feel undervalued by Humza Yousaf and Co. Any new deal must address not just their pay, but the poor working conditions junior doctors face every day.

“This is Humza Yousaf’s mess to clear up, from his disastrous time as health secretary. His government must support junior doctors, stop letting down patients and deliver the Scottish Conservatives’ vision for a modern, efficient and local NHS.”