England’s resident doctors in dispute over working conditions

Resident doctors in England have voted to go into dispute in a row over working conditions.

Members of the BMA, formerly known as junior doctors, said there has been a lack of progress over reforms to overtime and safe working systems.

The BMA’s resident doctors committee voted on Thursday to go into dispute over the issues, saying there had been a lack of progress to non-payment elements of last year’s pay deal, which ended a long-running dispute.

The co-chairs of the resident doctors committee, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt said they will keep talking to the Government in good faith.

“We have had some very helpful and encouraging meetings with the Health Secretary, who wants to see this resolved as much as we do, but an agreement should already have been reached in order to secure important changes to improve working lives of resident doctors,” they said.

“We are clear that this failure to find agreement is an unnecessary delay and so we have voted overwhelmingly in favour of entering dispute.

“If there is not progress, we have been mandated to reinstate the resident doctors rate card, which means resident doctors should be paid the agreed BMA hourly rate for any extra shifts they do.

“However, it is within the Government’s gift to avoid this, and we hope to find agreement before that happens.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The Secretary of State talked with the British Medical Association on his very first day in post and ended the most prolonged industrial dispute in the health service’s history within just one month.

“We have made every effort to provide the BMA with a workable solution on one of the more technical elements of the deal to make sure it delivers on the principles both parties agreed to.

“It is regrettable that the BMA have chosen to enter a dispute, but we will continue to work with them to find a way forward.”