BREAKING NEWS: Resident doctors strike in Scotland averted

Resident doctors in Scotland have called off proposed strike action as the BMA considers a revised pay and contract reform offer.

BREAKING NEWS: Resident doctors strike in Scotland averted

The BMA Scottish Resident Doctors Committee has agreed to ballot members on an offer of 4.25% in 2025-26 and 3.75% in 2026-27.

The committee is recommending that members accept the two-year pay deal offered by the Scottish Government, which matches one already accepted by nurses and other healthcare staff, alongside a separate package of contractual reform.

The combined offer will see an 8.16% cumulative pay uplift over two years and an additional investment in contractual reform over the same period.

The total investment in the offer for both pay and contract reform over the two-year period will be £133m. The BMA will now consult their members on the deal with planned industrial action on 13 January no longer going ahead.

Health secretary, Neil Gray, said: ‘It is great news that we have reached an agreement that has allowed next week's industrial action to be halted. This avoids the cancelled operations and disruption to patient care that no one, including resident doctors, wanted to see. Days of intensive and constructive talks have got us here and I thank the BMA, and my team, for getting us to this point.

‘The combined offer will see the same pay deal which nurses and NHS support staff agreed. It also includes additional investment in contractual reform over the same period, providing a total investment of £133m over this time. It further underlines our commitment to the 2023 pay and contract reform agreement. I hope resident doctors will now vote to accept.'

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