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Junior doctors to stage more strikes in England | Junior doctors to stage more strikes in England |
(32 minutes later) | |
Junior doctors in England are to stage more strikes in December and January after rejecting a new pay offer from the government. | |
The British Medical Association said the deal, worth an extra 3% on average this year, was "not credible". | |
It came after five weeks of talks between the BMA and government - and after junior doctors had already received an average pay rise of 8.8%. | |
The BMA wanted 35% more to make up for below-inflation rises since 2008. | |
The walkouts will be for three days from 07:00 on 20 December and six days from 07:00 on 3 January. | |
The first week of the year is always one of the busiest for the NHS with emergency services often under huge strain. | |
Fresh pay offer could end NHS consultant strikes | |
Why talk of a UK doctor exodus is premature | |
How much do junior doctors really get paid? | |
In a statement, BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, said: "We have been clear from the outset of these talks that we needed to move at pace and if we did not have a credible offer, we would be forced to call strikes. | |
"After five weeks of intense talks, the government was unable to present a credible offer on pay by the deadline. | |
"Instead, we were offered an additional 3%, unevenly spread across doctors' grades, which would still amount to pay cuts for many doctors this year." | |
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said it was "disappointing" that junior doctor leaders had walked away from negotiations. | |
"The new strikes will result in more disruption for patients and extra pressure on NHS services and staff as we enter a busy winter period, risking patient safety," she added. | |
Since industrial action started in the NHS more than one million appointments and treatments have had to be cancelled - this includes walkouts by nurses, ambulance workers and physios as well but the ones by doctors have been the most disruptive. | |
The pay rise which was given to junior doctors from April was weighted so those at the start of training - and therefore on the least money - got the biggest rises. | |
The announcement by the BMA comes after the union reached a deal last week with the government on consultants, who have also been taking strike action. | |
The deal will now be put to consultants to vote on - it involves an average pay increase of nearly 5% in January on top of the 5% rise they got in April. | |
Other health workers accepted a pay offer of 5% more and a one-off sum of at least £1,655 in May. |