Junior doctors’ leaders are confident they can resolve the NHS pay row without further strikes but warned “much more meat” is needed to reach a deal.
Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, co-chairs of the British Medical Association’s junior doctors’ committee, said their first face-to-face talks with Wes Streeting, the health secretary, were “collaborative” and a “positive first step” towards ending their 20-month dispute over pay.
Asked by reporters if they were confident the row could be resolved without more industrial action, Trivedi said: “We didn’t come into this meeting expecting a resolution to our dispute. We were hoping to be heard and to be listened to, which is what happened.
“And we hope to be able to build on that and continue in good faith, as we have always done, but it does seem to be reciprocated now; it does suggest we will be able to reach a resolution.”
Strikes across the NHS since December 2022 by doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, paramedics and other staff have led to nearly 1.5m appointments, procedures and operations postponed, at an estimated cost to the NHS of more than £3bn.
“No doctor, no member of the public wants this to last for any longer than it needs to,” said Trivedi.
“It was a positive meeting, we were pleased to be able to meet the secretary of state and his team so quickly after the general election – it signifies the urgency that they’re placing on resolving this dispute, which has already lasted 20 months.”
Junior doctors in England have said their pay has been cut by more than a quarter over the past 15 years and have called for a 35% increase.
Streeting has previously said he would not meet the 35%, saying that if he gave in to the demand then “any trade union worth their salt” would come back the following year with the same request.
Asked if Streeting was open to the idea of a multi-year pay deal, Laurenson said: “Yes. There was a clear conversation about timeframe and about a journey.”
However, he also said that there was some way to go before a deal could be struck.
“There were talks about reform, and we’re interested to hear what that might pan out to be. This is a complex negotiation and it’s going to take some time.
“This was a positive first step, but that’s all it was, the first step. There’s much more meat that needs to be added to the bones before we’re going to be able to come out with any sort of agreement.”
He added: “Now it’s just down to the government to be able to come up with a credible offer through the series of negotiations that we’re about to go into.”
The pair will meet Streeting again next week, and said there were no plans for further strike action “at the moment” as negotiations progress.
Before the meeting on Monday, Streeting said the talks marked an “important reset moment” in relations between the government and junior doctors.
Speaking at the Tony Blair Institute’s Future of Britain Conference 2024, he added: “In opposition, we were very clear that the headline 35% pay demand is not one that we could afford, and that has not changed since the general election.
“The reason we were so blunt in opposition wasn’t simply about delivering a tough message, but about showing them the respect I think they are due, and a key ingredient of respect is honesty.
“Secondly, beyond pay, there are a whole range of issues about how junior doctors are treated by their employer which I am genuinely angry about – in terms of their placements, their rotations.”