Improved offer from Government for SAS doctors in England recommended by SAS committee
SAS doctors in England told us loud and clear that the Government’s first offer wasn’t good enough and members expected to see an offer that would increase pay for all SAS doctors. The first offer was roundly rejected by members when they voted on it earlier this year, with 62.3% of respondents saying it didn’t go far enough to end the pay dispute.
Following a fresh round of talks and weeks of intense negotiating with the Government, the SAS committee have secured an improved pay offer for specialist, associate specialist, and specialty (SAS) doctors in England that they feel will benefit all SAS doctors.
The new offer will mean all SAS doctors would receive a consolidated pay uplift, offered on a recurring and pensionable basis. SAS doctors on open contracts will see an increase of between 9.5% and 19.4% on their basic pay since 2022. It also offers an uplift of £1400 to each pay point for SAS doctors on closed contracts, on top of the 6% awarded by the DDRB for 2023/24. Outside of pay, the offer includes measures to promote job security and improve contracts for locally employed doctors (LEDs) and to improve SAS doctors’ prospects for career progression.
Full details of the offer and answers to frequently asked questions will be published shortly, and a series of webinars has been scheduled to explain the offer and answer members’ questions – you can choose a webinar date and register to attend.
The new offer will be put to BMA members via an online referendum which will be open from 31 May until 14 June. Voting links will be emailed, from [email protected], to all eligible members on Friday 31 May.
If you are not a BMA member, join us and we will send you a voting link to have your say.
How we got here
The BMA’s SAS committee opened a formal pay dispute with the Government last autumn, and held a ballot for industrial action in November and December 2023. The committee negotiated with the Government during the ballot period, and at the same time the ballot passed (with 93.76% of respondents voting for strike action), received an offer for a package of measures that it put to the BMA’s SAS doctor members in an online referendum in January to February 2024.
That first offer was rejected, with 62.3% of respondents agreeing that it did not go far enough to accept and end the dispute. That offer would have realigned pay scales for the ‘open’ 2021 SAS contracts, but did not include any increase in pay for SAS doctors on closed/older contracts.
Following the formal rejection, the BMA conducted a survey of SAS doctors in March 2024 to analyse the result in more depth. Well over 1,000 individuals responded, with a clear consensus that the offer was inadequate on pay and this is the biggest issue for SAS doctors.
The SAS committee negotiations team then re-entered negotiations with the Government, with the aim of improving the offer for all SAS doctors. The committee made it clear that progress needed to be made rapidly to avoid further escalation of the campaign, and SAS doctors began preparing for potentially taking strike action. After weeks of intense negotiations, the SAS committee negotiations team secured a major concession from Government on a pay increase for closed contracts, which had previously been a red line in their negotiating position.
The committee are now recommending a YES vote to accept the offer, which the BMA understands is the best offer we can reach through negotiations.
Results of first ballot on industrial action
The SAS doctors’ ballot on industrial action closed on 18 December and the results are as follows:
- Turnout: 52.79%
- Number entitled to vote: 5,204
- Number of votes cast in the ballot: 2,747
- Number of YES votes: 2,570 (93.76%)
- Number of NO votes: 171 (6.24%)
- Number of spoiled or otherwise invalid voting papers returned: 6
The specialist grade doctors’ ballot on industrial action closed on 8 January and the results are as follows:
- Number of individuals who were entitled to vote in the ballot: 235
- Number of votes cast in the ballot: 137
- Votes cast in the ballot as a percentage of individuals who were entitled to vote: 58.30%
- Number of spoilt or otherwise invalid voting papers returned: 0
- Yes: 129 (94.16%)
- No: 8 (5.84%)
BMA strike fund
A strike fund is available to subsidise members in serious financial difficulty who otherwise couldn’t afford to take part in strike action.
The strike fund is supported through voluntary donations to make available to doctors in need.
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