ACAS can help end junior doctors strike – union
Doctors' leaders have asked the Government to enter talks facilitated by the conciliation service Acas to end the bitter dispute over junior doctors' pay
Acas said it is ‘well prepared and ready to help’ after the British Medical Association (BMA) said ‘we do need someone to start brokering realistic talks’.
The BMA urged ministers to get round the table to try to break the deadlock between the parties as junior doctors entered a second day of strike action.
Rishi Sunak said he wanted to find a ‘reasonable compromise’ with junior doctors.
The Prime Minister said: ‘What I'm focused on is making sure we get the right outcome for patients and taxpayers.
‘The Government has got a track record in showing that it can get round the table and find reasonable compromise and a way through these difficult situations, as we've already done with several other health unions that represent over a million NHS workers including nurses and paramedics.
He added: "We are happy to talk about pay settlements that are reasonable, that are fair, that are affordable for the taxpayer and allow us to continue delivering on our promise to halve inflation.’
Acas chief executive Susan Clews said: ‘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.
‘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.’
O n Tue s d ay, D ow n i n g Street said there will be no talks unless junior doctors abandon their starting position of a 35% pay rise and call off the strikes.
But the BMA said the Government should ‘get into the room and discuss pay restoration - whether that means 35% or not’.
Chairman of the BMA council, Professor Philip Banfield, said: ‘ We believe that working with Acas provides the most realistic chance of a successful outcome to the negotiations.’
The current j unior doctors strike began on Tuesday morning and is due to end on Saturday. QA Hospital is among the hospitals affected.