The new offer from BMA management made 'no meaningful movement' on a consolidated pay rise of 2% and only offered minor improvements:

• an increase to the non-consolidated payment from £1,250 to £1,500
• an additional day's leave at Christmas, taking the total to four extra days leave.

BMA management says the overall cash impact of the pay award ranges from 3.2% to 16.31%, with the additional days off representing a further 1.2%.

However, GMB Union, which represents around 75% of BMA staff, dispute these figures, saying not only do they include both consolidated and non-consolidated pay – something the BMA would never accept for doctors – they also do not use last year's total pay as a baseline.

The 16% is for a very small minority of senior managers and addresses a long-standing issue of pay progression. It is in no way linked to a cost-of-living increase, says GMB.

GMB calculate the real terms increase of in-year total pay as now being just 1.90%-1.98% compared to 2025 total pay.

A GMB rep working for the BMA said: ‘It's disappointing that BMA management are now resorting to placing a percentage pay value on Christmas days off. Perhaps the ghost of Christmas future is lurking in the corridors of BMA House, the site of Charles Dickens' former home.

‘We remain committed to seeking a credible offer to reflect inflation and a resolution to address years of pay erosion, just as resident doctors are rightly doing for their own pay.'

In response, BMA chief executive Rachel Podolak, said: ‘Against some extremely challenging financial constraints, we have worked hard to improve our offer to our staff. This enhanced package delivers an affordable in-year uplift for 2026, and it also includes some tangible benefits that go beyond salary alone and we believe these are important to the work-life balance and well-being of all our staff. 

‘When the total offer to our staff is considered – including three extra paid days leave on top of 30 days contractual annual leave and bank holidays, enhanced paternity leave and a non-consolidated lump sum - we are confident it is at or above market rates for comparable organisations and we regularly benchmark against industry standards.

‘We understand that this year's offer may not be able to meet the expectation of all our staff, but we remain committed to working with the GMB as we continue to address the financial challenges we face.'