Nurses fuel fears of strikes after denouncing ‘derisory' pay offer
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, will meet senior leaders from the British Medical Association (BMA) this week and he is expected to affirm that a bigger pay rise is not on offer. He is willing, however, to work with the union to improve working conditions for resident doctors, previously known as junior doctors.
The move is an attempt to avoid what government insiders call pay 'contagion' spreading across other public sector professions. They said that reopening pay negotiations with one group would lead to others demanding the same. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) could threaten to follow the BMA. Resident doctors are to walk out for five days, starting on July 25, in pursuit of a 29 per cent pay rise.
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