The junior doctors’ union has asked the conciliation service Acas to look into ways of breaking the deadlock in their dispute with the government over their claim for a 35% pay rise.
Tens of thousands of junior doctors in England are on the second day of a four-day strike in pursuit of their campaign to achieve “full pay restoration” after a significant loss of earnings since 2008-09. It is expected that up to 350,000 appointments and operations could be cancelled as a result.
There are no talks ongoing between the British Medical Association (BMA), their union and Steve Barclay, the health secretary, despite the huge disruption the trainee doctors’ stoppage is causing the NHS. They are at loggerheads over their 35% demand and the terms on which any discussions to end the strikes would take place.
In a development that may lead to a breakthrough, the BMA leader, Prof Philip Banfield, the union’s chair of council, disclosed on Wednesday that he had asked Acas to help end the logjam.
“I have been talking to Acas about the possibility of breaking down some of the preconditions that have been put on the juniors by this government to try and get this dispute resolved as quickly as possible,” he told Times Radio.
“The fundamental issue here is that we have a secretary of state that doesn’t seem to appreciate that pay for junior doctors has gone down in real terms.
“We’ve also got a government that says on the one hand that it respects the independent pay review body but then doesn’t honour its recommendation with the other hand, so we do need someone to start brokering realistic talks.”
Acas’s chief executive, Susan Clews, said the body was “ready to help” end the dispute.
“We have a team of experts who are well prepared and ready to help. Acas has decades of experience in resolving disputes and we helped the various parties involved in the 2016 junior doctors dispute,” she said.
“Acas’s collective conciliation service is impartial and independent. It is also voluntary, which means we only get involved in a dispute if all the parties in dispute agree to conciliation.”
Barclay has dismissed as unreasonable the 35% salary increase the BMA is seeking.
Banfield reiterated the junior doctors’ demand. But he also hinted that the BMA may be open to discussing how the 35% uplift could be achieved, including phasing it in over a number of years.
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“The figure of 35% is not at all unreasonable; the question is how we get to it. But we need to be in the room to discuss how to get to it and what it means, and what it means for different doctors across what kind of different timescale,” he said.
The leaders of the BMA’s junior doctors committee last week twice made overtures to Barclay, asking him to put forward “a credible offer” as a way of getting negotiations started, in a move that would have led to them calling off this week’s industrial action. However, the minister did not do so and instead restated that the 35% claim was unreasonable.
In a riposte to Barclay’s insistence that the union was being intransigent, Banfield said: “I don’t think it’s true that we won’t budge. We’ve come up with lots of suggestions as to how to get into talks and you will continue to see us applying every effort across today, across the rest of this week and immediately after any strike actions. We are very keen to get this resolved as quickly as possible.”
Hospital bosses voiced concern on Tuesday about how the strike, coupled with many consultants (senior doctors) being on holiday during the Easter school holidays, could jeopardise patients’ safety, especially overnight, because of difficulty in ensuring adequate medical cover.
Meanwhile, Prof Stephen Powis, NHS England’s medical director, has warned that Easter short-staffing means the current strike will become more damaging as the week goes on.
“Staff are working incredibly hard during this unprecedented period of industrial action, and we expect the situation to become more challenging each day this strike progresses.
“As the week goes on, we expect to see staff cover stretched as those who worked tirelessly over the Easter holiday take leave, which will pose a huge challenge to an already depleted workforce,” he said.
