Pay offer for resident doctors following intense talks with Welsh Government
Resident doctors in Wales have voted YES to accepting the pay offer from the Welsh Government.
The Welsh resident doctors committee has confirmed our acceptance of the offer for the 2023/24 pay year, bringing our current pay dispute to an end.
Dr Oba Babs-Osibodu and Dr Peter Fahey co-chairs of the BMA’s Welsh Resident Doctors Committee said:
"This pay deal and the emphatic vote by members to accept it shows how far we have come on our journey to fight for the future of our profession. For too long, resident doctors have been undervalued".
Employers should now provide further information on the implementation of the pay deal once the Welsh Government publishes updated pay circulars. We will provide updates in due course on progress on other elements of the pay deal previously detailed.
How we got here
We prepared for and entered pay talks with the Welsh Government in good faith at the beginning of August 2023. Despite the health minister’s commitment to full pay restoration to 2008 levels, the first and final offer for resident doctors was a sub-inflationary uplift of 5%. This is the worst pay offer for resident doctors in the UK.
With no other offer forthcoming, we had no option other than to move towards balloting members on taking industrial action. In this ballot an overwhelming majority of members voted in favour of taking industrial action.
As a result of sustained pressure from three rounds of strike action by you, we were invited alongside our colleagues from the SAS and consultant committees in Wales to enter into pay talks. To allow time and space for negotiations to take place, we did not call any further strike action whilst negotiations were ongoing. Early into negotiations, we were able to agree an extension to the ballot mandate for industrial action until September. This gave us the space for talks with the Welsh Government to continue without the need to run a further ballot for industrial action.
Following intense negotiations with the Welsh Government, we were pleased to have reached a final offer from the Welsh Government we recommended you accept.
A referendum of members was held between 12 June and 26 June. Resident doctors in Wales delivered a clear YES vote, with 96% voting to accept the offer (turnout 73%).The Welsh resident doctors committee has confirmed our acceptance of the offer for the 2023/24 pay year, bringing our current pay dispute to an end.
The Welsh resident doctors committee has confirmed our acceptance of the offer for the 2023/24 pay year, bringing our current pay dispute to an end.
Employers should now provide further information on the implementation of the pay deal once the Welsh Government publishes updated pay circulars. We will provide updates in due course on progress on other elements of the pay deal previously detailed.
Industrial action ballot results
Resident doctor members in Wales voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking industrial action over pay.
Turnout:
- Number of individuals who were entitled to vote in the ballot: 2689
- Number of votes cast in the ballot: 1740
- Votes cast in the ballot as a % of individuals who were entitled to vote: 64.71%
- Number of spoilt or otherwise invalid voting papers returned: 3
Result of voting
- Yes: 1696 (97.64%)
- No: 41 (2.36%)
BMA strike fund - donate now
A strike fund is available to subsidise members in serious financial difficulty who otherwise couldn’t afford to take part in any future rounds of strike action.
The strike fund is supported through voluntary donations to make available to doctors in need.
Pay activists
- Help build a team at your workplace that drives our campaign locally.
- Share your ideas to help BMA Cymru Wales develop our campaign.
- Recruit new BMA members to strengthen our voice calling for full pay restoration.
- Join or start local events, meetings and activities in support of the campaign.
As of 18 September, all references to junior doctors in BMA communications have been changed to ‘resident doctors’.
Making up nearly 25% of all doctors in the UK, this cohort will now have a title that better reflects their huge range of skills and responsibilities.
Find out more about why junior doctors are now known as 'resident doctors'.
