Junior doctors offer prime minister “final chance” to avoid pre-election strike

The BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee in England has written to the prime minister, urging him to take a “final chance” to avert upcoming planned strikes by committing to a pay deal.

Junior doctors in England are due to stage a five day walkout from 7 am on 27 June to 7 am on 2 July, ahead of the UK’s general election on Thursday 4 July.

In the letter sent to Rishi Sunak on 19 June the committee’s co-chairs, Robert Laurenson and Vivek Trivedi, called on him to make a written commitment to a “detailed pathway” to pay restoration that could be implemented if he forms the next government.

Their letter says, “This does not require you to break purdah and is entirely within your gift to take this bold action and give a clear plan for the future.”

Highlighting that more money has been spent on strikes than resolving the issue would have cost, the letter says that the prime minister’s attitude to the dispute has made “zero financial sense.”

The letter also notes that NHS waiting lists rose in March and April when no strikes were held, even as Sunak attempted to blame doctors’ strikes for his failure to reduce waiting lists.

Despite this approach, wrote Laurenson and Trivedi, “we are writing to you today with a final chance to do the right thing and avert the upcoming strike action.”

The letter adds, “We are not asking for the world and we do not expect pay restoration overnight. A doctor currently starts on £15.53 per hour and we are asking for that to be restored to what a doctor was worth in 2008, which would be £21.58 per hour. As we have repeatedly said, we are happy to have that restoration process occur over time—we have not called for it in one go.”

The committee said that the prime minister should take the opportunity to deliver for patients and doctors, invest in the NHS, and tackle the current staff retention crisis.