The Government hopes to agree a pay deal with junior doctors that “the country can afford,” the Health Secretary has said as official talks began to try and bring the long-running dispute to a close.
Wes Streeting said that junior doctors made a “reasonable case” that their pay had not kept up in line with inflation, but said that their request for a 35% uplift was not affordable.
But addressing the Commons , Mr Streeting insisted that the Government was negotiating with medics from the British Medical Association (BMA) “in good faith”.
Formal negotiations between the new Government and the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee (JDC) began on Tuesday with a view to end the long-running dispute over pay.
Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, co-chairmen of the Committee, refused to answer questions from reporters as they arrived at the Department for Health and Social Care on Tuesday morning.
A department spokesperson confirmed that Mr Streeting and Health Minister Karin Smyth had met the JDC and said that “both sides are committed to working together to find a solution and resolve this dispute”.
Mr Streeting was asked about the negotiations during his first Oral Health Questions in the House of Commons.
Shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins said: “In opposition, (Mr Streeting) described the 35% pay rise demand by the junior doctors committee as reasonable. What he didn’t tell the public was that this single trade union demand would cost an additional £3 billion, let alone the impact on other public-sector workers.
“So, will he ask the Chancellor to raise taxes or will she ask him to cut patient services to pay for it?”
Mr Streeting, in his reply, said: “What I said was that the doctors were making a reasonable case that their pay hadn’t kept up in line with inflation, but we were clear before the election that 35% was not a figure we could afford.
“We are negotiating with the junior doctors in good faith to agree on a settlement that we can deliver and the country can afford.”
A department spokesperson said: “The Health and Social Care Secretary and the minister for health met the BMA’s junior doctors committee today to begin negotiations.
“We will not be providing a running commentary, but both sides are committed to working together to find a solution and resolve this dispute.”
Junior doctor members of the BMA have walked out on strike 11 times in the past 20 months.
Industrial action by a number of different NHS staff groups since December 2022 has led to the postponement of 1.5 million appointments, procedures and operations at an estimated cost to the NHS of more than £3 billion.
The last strike by junior doctors – which took place from June 27 to July 2 – impacted 61,989 appointments, procedures and operations, according to NHS England.
According to the BMA, it is expected the formal talks between Mr Streeting and junior doctors will have concluded in time for the union’s executive meeting on August 16.
The official talks come after two meetings between the Health Secretary and the BMA’s junior doctors committee earlier this month.
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