Resident doctors in England are considering a revised offer on addressing job shortages put forward by the Government, ahead of planned strikes later this month.
The BMA is continuing to consult with resident doctors on whether the latest terms are enough to call off the five-day walk-out scheduled for 17 December.
The offer, which was put forward by the Government yesterday, includes a number of concessions aimed at tackling the continuing shortage of training places for resident doctors in England.
The terms of the offer include:
– Emergency legislation in the new year to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors with significant experience working in the NHS for specialty training roles
– The increase of specialty training posts over the next three years from the 1,000 announced in the 10 Year Health Plan, to 4,000. These posts will be repurposed from ‘locally employed’ roles already present in the health service
– Bringing forward 1,000 of those training posts to start in 2026
– Funding mandatory medical royal college examination and membership fees for resident doctors.
Opinion sought
The BMA will seek to gauge members' views on the offer via an online survey, which will run until 15 December.
In the event a majority of doctors indicate the offer is sufficient to postpone industrial action, strikes planned for this month will be called off, with the association’s resident doctors committee then moving to conduct a formal referendum on whether to accept the proposed terms.
Reflecting on the latest offer by the Department of Health, BMA resident doctors committee chair Jack Fletcher said it was regrettable it had taken strikes to get to this point but emphasised this action had been critical to 'moving the needle'.
He said: ‘This offer is the result of thousands of resident doctors showing that they are prepared to stand up for their profession and its future.
‘After their strike action succeeded in moving the Government from offering 1,000 training jobs to 4,000, as well as a plan on prioritisation for UK graduates and those who have worked in the NHS for some time, as a member-led organisation we are giving resident doctors their say.’
Dr Fletcher added that, if a majority of resident doctors were open to accepting the terms, the BMA could move towards a position of ending its dispute with the Government.
He said: ‘We have forced the Government to recognise the scale of the problems and to respond with measures on training numbers and prioritisation. However, this offer does not increase the overall number of doctors working in England and does nothing to restore pay for doctors, which remains well within the Government’s power to do.
‘If members believe this is enough to call off strike action, then we will hold a referendum to end the dispute. But if they give us a clear message that it is not, the Government will have to go further to end industrial action.’