Indian-origin doctors union chief confirms pay offer ending strikes in UK

The Indian-origin chair of the British Medical Associations BMA Consultants Committee on Friday confirmed the end of year-long strike action after senior National Health Service NHS doctors accepted the governments pay offer.Dr Vishal Sharma said the agreement is the end of the beginning in consultants efforts to restore their pay to 2008 levels and stressed it is imperative for the review body to utilise its independence to prevent future pay disputes.

The Indian-origin chair of the British Medical Association's (BMA) Consultants Committee on Friday confirmed the end of year-long strike action after senior National Health Service (NHS) doctors accepted the government's pay offer.

Dr Vishal Sharma said the agreement is "the end of the beginning" in consultants' efforts to restore their pay to 2008 levels and stressed it is "imperative" for the review body to utilise its independence to prevent future pay disputes. Around 83 per cent of NHS consultants who took part in a three-week referendum tabled by the BMA doctors' union voted in favour of accepting the offer on behalf of the profession.

"The last year has seen consultants take unprecedented strike action in our fight to address our concerns about pay and how the supposedly independent pay review process was operating," said Sharma.

"After years of repeated real-term pay cuts caused by government interference and a failure of the pay review process, consultants have spoken and now clearly feel that this offer is enough of a first step to address our concerns to end the current dispute,'' he said. ''However, it's now imperative that the DDRB [Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration Body] utilises its independence to restore doctors' pay and prevent any further disputes from arising," he added.

The BMA said the latest offer reflects an improvement on the government's previous proposal to reform the consultant pay scale. It now includes a 2.85 per cent (GBP 3,000) uplift for those who have been consultants between four and seven years who, under the original offer, received no additional uplift. The upgrade is in addition to the 6 per cent pay uplift awarded during the review body's process last year and is separate from the pay award following the outcome of the review body process for 2024-25. "We've reached this point not just through our tough negotiations with the government, but thanks to the resolve of consultants, who took the difficult decision to strike and did so safely and effectively, on multiple occasions, sending a clear message that they would not back down," said Dr Sharma.

"At the heart of this dispute was our concern for patients and the future sustainability of the NHS. Without valuing doctors, we lose them. Without doctors, we have no NHS and patients suffer. But the fight is not yet over,'' he said. ''This is only the end of the beginning, and we have some way to go before the pay consultants have lost over the last 15 years has been restored. Therefore, all eyes will be on this year's pay review round, recommendations from the DDRB and response from the government," he added.

The outcome will come as some relief for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose government has been trying to resolve strike action in the healthcare sector over the last two years as it piled pressure on the taxpayer-funded NHS, extending waiting lists for hospital treatment.

"The end of consultant strike action in the NHS is excellent news for patients. It will mean we can continue making progress towards our goal of cutting the waiting lists, which have now fallen for the fourth month in a row," said Sunak.

"Consultants perform a vital role at the heart of the NHS – I'm pleased they've accepted this deal, which is fair for them and fair for the taxpayer," he said.

The UK's Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the core contract for consultants has not been updated for 20 years, and this offer will deliver reform to reflect modern ways of working, such as enhanced shared parental leave, in line with other NHS staff.

"This deal directly addresses gender pay issues in the NHS and enhances consultants' parental leave options – representing a fair deal for consultants, patients, and taxpayers," said UK Health Secretary Victoria Atkins.

The DHSC said the agreement ends the prospect of damaging strike action by consultants that have had a detrimental impact on patients and the NHS and will allow the senior doctors to focus their efforts on further reductions to waiting times for patients.

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