There comes a point in any dispute where the question is no longer what more can be offered, but whether the other side is serious about reaching an agreement at all. We are now at that point with the BMA’s Resident Doctors Committee.
After months of detailed negotiations, collaboration, and compromise, the government has put forward a fair, deliverable, and serious offer on both jobs and pay. Our deal would have delivered an average pay rise this year of 4.9 per cent, meaning the pay rise would have increased from between 6.2 per cent and 7.1 per cent for the lowest-paid doctors in their foundation training. Building on the 28.9 per cent pay rise since 2022 that resident doctors have already benefited from, this would mean their pay would be 35.2 per cent higher on average than four years ago – among the highest in the entire public sector.
