Resident doctors in Scotland offered 11% pay uplift

Resident doctors in Scotland have been offered an 11 per cent pay uplift.

The BMA is recommending the deal to its members, saying it would be ‘half way’ towards pay restoration.

While the association says there is 'more work to be done' to restore pay, it will now be put to the vote.

After weeks of negotiations, the Scottish Government has agreed an initial increase to the base salary of 8.5 per cent from 1 April 2024, with an additional 2.3 per cent increase from 1 October.

It is the first offer in the three-year agreement with the Scottish Government secured last summer, which averted strike action in Scotland.

The BMA Scottish resident doctors committee (formerly the Scottish junior doctors committee) agreed at an emergency meeting to put it to members with a recommendation to accept.

SRDC chair Chris Smith said the campaign towards full pay restoration was a vital step in keeping doctors in Scotland and securing the future of the health service.

‘We believe this offer, which has been reached after months of negotiations, not only represents the best possible increase that we will achieve this year, but is satisfactory progress on our journey toward that goal,’ he said.

‘This offer is the first of our three-year agreement with the Scottish Government which was secured last summer after resident doctors had to take the difficult step of voting for strike action. It means that we are now virtually halfway to our overall goal of pay restoration.’

Although the offer ensures that Scotland remains ‘competitive’ with other parts of the UK, there is still significant work to be done, Dr Smith added.

‘We are clear that achieving full pay restoration for Scottish resident doctors will be the only fair, just, and acceptable outcome from the next two years of pay negotiations. 

‘In the long term, the only way we can ever hope to put our NHS on a more sustainable footing is to invest in the medical workforce, for the benefit of both doctors and patients.’

Scottish health secretary Neil Gray said the incremental pay increase represented an investment of £64m.

It would mean that a doctor at the start of their training would receive a £3,418 uplift in 2024-25, increasing to a £7,088 raise for the most senior resident doctors.

‘Following weeks of constructive engagement with BMA Scotland, I am pleased to have agreed a pay offer that will ensure that our resident doctors, and dentists in training continue to feel valued while allowing NHS Scotland to remain the place of choice for them to work and train in.

‘I want to express my thanks again to Scotland’s hardworking resident doctors, and dentists in training. I am pleased we have been able to work together to honour the agreement from 2023-24, with this offer making significant progress towards resolving pay erosion.’

Last year’s pay deal also included commitments to contract reform and work on a pay bargaining review mechanism.

The referendum is expected to open on 28 October with the result due to be announced in late November.