Pay negotiations between the BMA Scottish Junior Doctors Committee (soon to be the Scottish Resident Doctors Committee) and the Scottish Government, for the financial year 2024/25, will begin this Thursday – the 25th July 2024 .
This has been a long time coming. Over the past few months, I have been clear with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Neil Gray, that the length of time to get to this point has been unacceptable, and that doctors are increasingly losing patience with delay after delay.
Last year BMA members mandated us to secure Pay Restoration for junior doctors in Scotland, and then voted for a deal that committed the Scottish Government to making credible progress to achieving it over each of the next three years. The deal that we accepted was about taking the first steps on a mutually agreeable path to achieve Pay Restoration and to prevent erosion recurring in the future. Now it is time for the Scottish Government to prove that they were being serious and honest when doctors stood down from our planned historic industrial action and voted to pursue these promises instead.
Getting back to the negotiating table in good time should have been easy; we have been making satisfactory progress with renegotiating our terms and conditions, and our demands on pay have not changed. This is why it is vital that these negotiations now take place with sufficient pace and in good faith. Fifteen years of damage still has to be addressed – and that won’t be undone overnight – but doctors, the Government and the NHS cannot afford to wait much longer before getting our pay back on track, and back to baseline.
The Scottish Government must enable us to make credible, substantial progress towards Pay Restoration in this financial year. By failing to do so – and betraying the thousands of doctors who embarked on this journey– the Government would be risking a dispute that might take us right back to square one.
In every letter and every meeting, the Cabinet Secretary has reiterated the importance with which he and his Government view the Pay and Contract deal that we reached in August 2023. He has repeated the commitments to a mutual goal of Pay Restoration and has said that he grasps the significance of our resoundingly successful strike ballot last year.
No-one reading this update will have gone into our profession with the intention to go on strike in Scotland for the first time ever, yet almost everyone reading this will have voted to do just that. We took this step to unite and take action to reverse the real-terms pay cut we received between 2008 and 2023. This appetite for action to ensure we achieve these goals has not changed.
No matter how these negotiations progress, SJDC needs every single doctor alongside us. The support that members have shown us throughout this year has been phenomenal. We are as resolute as ever, and you have shown time and time again that Scottish doctors are committed to the cause of Pay Restoration.
To make sure we’re all in the best place to continue taking this campaign forwards, it is vital that you update your workplace details here.
Please also ensure that your home address and preferred email are up-to-date and consider updating your personal details and characteristics. This will help us reach under-represented groups and understand the diverse composition of our membership.
Due to the sensitive nature of the negotiating process, I cannot offer a schedule for updates on our progress, but I am committed to maintaining a dialogue through the channels available to us – such as our organising WhatsApp groups and with more in-depth updates whenever I can.
It is from BMA members that the negotiating team derives our power and direction, so every single one of us will have a part to play – and a say – in whatever happens next. Keep an eye out for the next update and update your details to make sure you don’t miss out.
Dr Chris Smith is Chair of BMA Scotland’s Junior Doctor Committee
* The term ‘resident doctor’ has replaced ‘junior doctor’ from 18 September 2024 – read more here.
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