Three doctors’ pay deals accepted – BMA

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By Sarah Lowden

Three pay deals for doctors in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man have been accepted this week, the British Medical Association has announced.

Doctors working for Manx Care on the Isle of Man have voted to accept a revised deal, which came just before a planned partial walk out last week.

Resident doctors in Northern Ireland voted in favour of a pay offer earlier this week, and specialist doctors in Scotland have now voted to accept their pay offer – though ministers have been warned the result of the ballot should be a “wake-up call”.

In Scotland, specialist, specialty and associate specialist (SAS) doctors will see their rise by between 6% and 10%, after 58.4% of BMA members eligible to vote backed the deal.

Depending on their level, doctors will see a rise of between £3,492 and £8,872 on their wages – with the deal backdated to April 2024.

However, speaking after the ballot result, Dr Sine Steele, chairwoman of BMA Scotland’s SAS doctor committee, said it had been “disappointed with the offer”, claiming it “didn’t match” what some other doctors had received.

Scotland’s health secretary Neil Gray said the offer "builds on the contract reform and investment we made in 2022 and ensures that these doctors will stay competitively paid in Scotland.

“I am very grateful for the patience of all our SAS doctors and I’m delighted we have been able to work together to achieve this deal.”

After a referendum on the Isle of Man, consultants are to receive an 8% pay offer backdated to 1 April 2023 for last year. For 2024/25 they will also receive 8% with 6% backdated to 1 April 2024 and the remaining 2% effective from 1 February 2025.

While resident doctors will see their base salaries matched to the same level as their mainland counterparts in NHS England.

BMA chair of the Isle of Man Medical Society Dr Prakash Thiagarajan said: “Industrial action was a last resort and I’m glad we were able to successfully negotiate this outcome and take the first major step towards pay restoration.”

In Northern Ireland, 94.3% of resident doctors voted to accept a pay offer which will see them now receive an additional 4% pay uplift to the 2023/2024 pay scale.

Dr Fiona Griffin, chair of BMA’s Northern Ireland resident doctors committee said: “This pay agreement is the first step towards full pay restoration.

“We still have a long way to go. Our members are committed to addressing years of pay erosion and making sure that the skills, knowledge and commitment of resident doctors in Northern Ireland is properly recognised.”

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