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DH and NHS Employers finalise new junior doctor pay offer

The Department of Health and NHS Employers are understood to be finalising a fresh new pay offer to junior doctors as today marks the BMA’s deadline for ministers to “make meaningful progress” on the issue or face a wave of strikes.

When the junior doctor strikes were narrowly averted last month amid a decision to re-enter talks with health secretary Jeremy Hunt – despite over 98% of trainee doctors voting in favour of it – the BMA said all parties involved would evaluate whether progress was made by January.

Dr Mark Porter, BMA council chair, wrote in an email to the association’s members at the time: “A return to genuine negotiations is clearly preferable to the imposition of a new contract or industrial action and provides us with the best opportunity to deliver a contract for junior doctors, which recognises the central role they play in delivering patient care across the NHS.

“[In January], we will need to consider whether industrial action should be reinstated. The coming weeks will be challenging, but it is vital that we do all we can to come to a negotiated agreement.”

Reports say that the Treasury, Downing Street and NHS Employers have approved the polished proposals due out this afternoon – the last day of scheduled Acas talks between the three parties.

A department spokeswoman said: “We have been making good progress with the BMA, and look forward to further discussions in the new year. As we have consistently said, talks are always better than strikes and we are prepared to talk about anything within the pay envelope as long as we improve patient safety by moving towards a seven-day NHS.

“Our proposals offer better basic pay and safety for junior doctors, with a shorter working week.”

The Guardian said it understands that Nick Seddon, the prime minister’s health adviser, has been closely involved in the department’s handling of the longstanding dispute since it heightened in September of last year.

Seddon, former deputy director of free enterprise think tank Reform, has allegedly been in regular contact with Hunt and his allies, attending several meetings where the contract row was debated. But a department source told the paper that he has not been directly involved.

If the new contract fails to meet the BMA’s standards, its members are expected to stage a series of strikes starting on 13 January at 5pm – at which point the current mandate for strike action expires. If negotiations continue beyond that date, it is understood that another ballot would have to be carried out.

One source in a campaign against the new contract told the Independent that strike action could continue throughout the whole year, with junior doctors ready for continued strike action lasting up to 2017.

“We’re in it for the long haul. This is not a plan for just one day next week, but for a period of industrial action lasting for months,” the source said. “It will last into the summer and, if necessary, throughout the year.”