With a new pay offer for junior doctors on the table, the Scottish government’s Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care says he is “delighted” to see strike action suspended.

The Scottish government has announced a record pay uplift of 12.4% for junior doctors and doctors in training following negotiations with the British Medical Association (BMA) Scotland branch.

Following discussions with Mr Matheson this afternoon, BMA Scotland have agreed to suspend strike action while they consult their members on this new deal.

The planned 72 hour walkout from 12^th to the 15^th of July will not go ahead.

The proposed deal represents a £61.3m investment in junior doctors pay and a £3,429 salary increase in 2023/24 for doctors working at FY1 level.

For those doctors-in-training at the higher end of the pay scale, this would represent a £7,111 salary increase in 2023/24.  

The offer comes days after senior NHS medical and dental staff agreed a pay increase of 6%.

BMA Scotland says the acceptance of today's offer is the ‘best way’ forward to achieve full pay restoration for doctors in Scotland.

Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care, Michael Matheson said:

“Following months of negotiations with BMA Scotland, I am delighted that we have agreed a pay deal for 2023/24 for our junior doctors. BMA have agreed to suspend strike action in Scotland while they consult with their members.

“I hope this investment and the significant commitments we have given around pay and contract reform will show junior doctors how much we value them, and that we are determined to ensure that Scotland is the place for junior doctors to work and train.”

BMA Scotland says the deal represents an ‘improvement on the previous offer' and that it ‘gives us a genuinely credible and workable pathway towards pay restoration.’

Coupled with a pay raise of 4.5% awarded in 2022/23, this amounts to a cumulative increase of 17.5% over two years.

The offer also includes a commitment to modernise future years pay, contract and pay bargaining.

Mr Matheson added that, with strikes on pause, some patients may see their appointments rescheduled:

“Some patients may have been contacted to say their treatment has been cancelled. We are working hard with health boards to make sure appointments that can go ahead do, and that any others are rescheduled as soon as possible.”

BMA Scotland adds that the final decision will be in the hands of its members, who will respond to the offer via a consultative ballot – the timeline for which is yet to be announced.

Dr Chris Smith, Scottish Junior Doctors Committee Chair, said:

“By agreeing to address the way our pay has been cut, and setting out a clear mechanism for doing so, the government is making a serious, welcome commitment to ensuring that pay for Junior Doctors in Scotland is restored to a fair level.”

Read more: Auditor General: Difficult choices for Scotland's NHS; Mr Yousaf: “Scotland is a great place to work”; Emails show haste to publish recovery plan; Staff shortage concerns in latest MWC reviews

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