Junior doctors in strike ballot

JUNIOR doctors are set to strike again unless the Government commits to a significant pay rise, it emerged last night.

The British Medical Association (BMA) says it will ballot junior doctors for industrial action following an ‘unacceptable’ pay increase of 2 per cent.

The BMA is calling for a rise of up to 26 per cent, which it claims represents ‘pay restoration’ to the level of wages in 2008, after which point salaries began to fall steeply in real terms due to the cost of living.

The organisation, which represents all doctors in the UK, says its junior doctors are demoralised, burnt out and feeling undervalued.

The decision to ballot members follows ‘deafening silence’ from the Government over the issue of pay restoration, it added.

In a recent BMA survey of junior doctors, 83 per cent said this year’s 2 per cent pay award was ‘completely unacceptable’. And 72 per cent said they would be prepared to take industrial action if the Government did not commit to full pay restoration.