Starmer threatens to pull 1,000 doctor training posts if residents don’t accept deal

Sir Keir Starmer has given the BMA resident doctors committee ‘48 hours’ to accept the Government’s pay deal or miss out on 1,000 extra training posts this year. 

Writing in The Times yesterday, the Prime Minister said it was ‘reckless’ for the BMA’s resident doctors committee (RDC) to have rejected the deal last week ‘without even giving resident doctors themselves the chance to vote on it’. 

Resident doctors are planning a six-day walkout next month (from 7 to 13 April) after the RDC voted to reject the Government’s offer.

The RDC said the Government had attempted to ‘shift the goalposts’ on the pay aspect of the deal by proposing pay increases be spread over three years instead of two. It said the Government’s acceptance of the 3.5% pay increase recommended by the DDRB was a ‘crushing blow’ to doctors in England and had also contributed to the decision to strike. 

Sir Keir highlighted the commitment to creating 4,500 additional specialty training places, as well as recent legislation which prioritised UK graduates and other ‘priority groups’ for medical training places, which he said was ‘the result of months of collaboration’ with the union. 

He said: ‘Last week, the BMA resident doctors’ committee rejected a historic deal. They now have 48 hours to reconsider. For patients, for the NHS, and for the doctors they represent – they should.’ 

‘The deal that the committee have now walked away from would have delivered another above-inflation pay rise this year, bringing the total pay rise over three years to 35%, alongside reforms to pay progression to make sure doctors are rewarded more fairly as they gain experience and responsibility. 

‘It would have reimbursed the cost of Royal College exams, putting thousands of pounds back into doctors’ pockets. And it would have unlocked up to 4,500 additional speciality training places over the next three years, a thousand of which would have opened for applications this month and which will be gone if this deal isn’t put to a vote on Thursday.’

He went on to say that ‘walking away from this deal is the wrong decision’.

‘It is a reckless decision. And doing so without even giving resident doctors themselves the chance to vote on it makes it even worse. 

‘Because the truth is this: no one benefits from rejecting this deal. Resident doctors will be worse off. Instead of the improved pay, progression and support on offer, they will receive the standard pay award this year, with none of the additional reforms that would have strengthened their working lives.’ 

‘It is not too late to change course, to return to a constructive approach, and to do the most reasonable thing of all: give members a say and put this deal to a vote. Failing to do so will mean resident doctors are left with less, the NHS is weakened, and patients pay the price. 

‘And to resident doctors themselves, I say this: make your voice heard. This deal improves your pay, your progression and your future. Do not let others decide that for you.’ 

The BMA also announced today it will ballot senior doctors over the possibility of separate industrial action. Simultaneous ballots of consultants and specialist, associate specialist, and specialty (SAS) doctors will run between 11 May and 6 July.

The union’s consultants committee has asked for more protected teaching time, a reduction in standard hours, and a reversal to ‘longstanding pay erosion’, describing the planned 3.5% uplift as ‘making no progress at all’ towards doing so. 

Meanwhile, the SAS committee is calling for an increase to the number of specialist roles, reducing plain time hours, and improving annual leave entitlements to ensure SAS doctors are not disadvantaged compared to other groups.

In an NHS England board meeting last week, chief executive Sir Jim Mackey said this and future strike action should be seen as ‘probably a long distance’ run ‘rather than a sprint’. And financial reset and accountability director Glen Burley said he would put details of the Government’s negotiations with the BMA ‘into the public domain’.