Junior doctors in England threaten to take industrial action over pay

The BMA has said it will prepare to ballot for industrial action unless the government commits to its demand for “full restoration” of junior doctors’ pay to levels equivalent to 2008-09 adjusted for inflation by the end of the year.

The association has calculated that the estimated take home pay for the average junior doctor in England has declined by 22% in real terms between 2008-09 and 2020-21, and these losses are accelerating now with inflation continuing to rise.

In a statement1 to members, Sarah Hallet and Mike Kemp, co-chairs of the BMA junior doctors committee, wrote, “It is simply not the case that a junior doctor is worth a quarter less today than they were in 2008, and yet that is the crisis that we …