Junior doctors warn they will strike again 'if we need to' after accepting 22.3% pay rise

More strikes by junior doctors are not off the table in the future, a leading medic has said on the day they voted to accept the government’s pay offer.

The pay deal that has been signed off is worth 22.3 per cent on average over two years, and brings the long-running dispute to an end.

The British Medical Association’s (BMA) junior doctors committee in England has accepted the Government’s pay offer, with 66 per cent of junior doctors voting in favour of the deal.

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But Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chairman of the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee, said “the journey is not over”.

And committee co-chairman, Dr Robert Laurenson, said that junior doctors would be expecting an above-inflation pay rise next year.

Dr Trivedi told BBC Breakfast: “This is the first step towards restoring pay, which is all that doctors have wanted since the beginning of this campaign.

“As you’ll know, we’ve had a huge pay cut since 2008 but this marks a change in that trajectory.

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“Doctors who were being paid just over £15-an-hour before this offer will now be paid a little over £17-an-hour, so it does mark an improvement, but the journey is not over.”

He continued: “We will expect pay uplifts each and every year, as we have done in the past.

“If those communications break down, then we will be thinking about going back into dispute and striking again if we need to, but that’s always a last case resort, and something we don’t want to have to do.”

Junior doctors in England have taken industrial action 11 times in the past 22 months, with their last strike just days before the general election.

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Their last strike, which took place from June 27 to July 2, affected 61,989 appointments, procedures and operations.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said on Monday he is “pleased” the BMA has accepted the Government’s pay deal.

He said: “We inherited a broken NHS, the most devastating dispute in the health service’s history, and negotiations hadn’t taken place with the previous ministers since March.

“Things should never have been allowed to get this bad. That’s why I made ending the strikes a priority, and we negotiated an end to them in just three weeks.

“I am pleased that our offer has been accepted, ending the strikes ahead of looming winter pressures on the NHS.”

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