UK Doctors Suspend Strikes, Will Vote on New Pay Offer

Planned strikes by resident doctors in England have been called off following a last-minute offer from the government, the British Medical Association (BMA) announced Saturday. The union's UK Resident Doctors Committee will now conduct a referendum among its members to vote on the proposed deal.

The strikes, originally scheduled to commence on June 15 and run until June 19, have been suspended while the voting process takes place. The BMA stated that the decision to halt industrial action was contingent on receiving an offer deemed appropriate for members to consider.

According to the BMA, the new offer includes provisions for an average pay increase of 6.6% by April 2027. This figure is in addition to the pay review body's recommendation for the current year, with further increases planned thereafter. "We have always been clear that no strikes needed to go ahead if we received an offer appropriate to put to our members," said committee chair Jack Fletcher.

Fletcher indicated that members would evaluate the offer based on its effectiveness in addressing doctor unemployment and pay erosion. The now-suspended walkout was planned after the union felt that Health Minister James Murray had not improved upon a previous pay offer that doctors had already rejected.

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We have always been clear that no strikes needed to go ahead if we received an offer appropriate to put to our members.