Next week’s strike by resident doctors in England may be averted after ministers offered the British Medical Association a fresh deal.
The doctors’ union has agreed to put the offer to members over the coming days – if they support it, the five-day walkout starting on Wednesday 17 December could be called off.
The offer includes a rapid expansion of specialist training posts as well as covering out-of-pocket expenses such as exam fees.
But it does not include any promises of extra pay. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has been adamant he will not negotiate on that, given resident doctors – the new name for junior doctors – have had pay rises of nearly 30% over the past three years.
The deal also includes emergency legislation being introduced so that the NHS can prioritise doctors who have studied and worked in the UK for speciality training posts that resident doctors move into in year three of their training.
This year there was intense competition for these roles with 30,000 applicants going for 10,000 posts. Some of those will have been doctors from abroad who under current rules have to be judged on the same basis as UK doctors.
The number of speciality posts will also increase by 4,000 – with the first 1,000 of those available from next year.
The BMA will now consult resident doctor members in England on whether this offer would be sufficient to call off next week’s strike. A survey of members will run online, closing on Monday 15 December.
If members indicate it is enough to call off these strikes, a formal referendum of resident doctors would follow, giving members time to consider the details of the offer and whether to accept it and end the current dispute, the BMA said.
If the survey of members decides it is not enough to call off strikes, they will go ahead as planned next week.
BMA resident doctors committee chairman, Dr Jack Fletcher, 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.
“It should not have taken strike action, but make no mistake: it was strike action that got us this far.
“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 nothing to restore pay for doctors, which remains well within the government’s power to do.”