James Murray, who replaced Wes Streeting as health secretary 13 days ago, is facing a fresh round of strikes by resident doctors next month. The walkout from 15 June until 19 June it will be the sixteenth in the long-running dispute over pay that began in May 2023. It followed a meeting earlier today between Murray and the British Medical Association (BMA).
Murray has deviated little from his predecessor’s stance on this issue. He made it clear he was not willing to negotiate on pay, on the grounds that the union’s demands for more money are ‘unrealistic and unaffordable’. Resident doctors have received pay rises worth 33 per cent over the past four years, including a 3.5 per cent increase this year. Starting salaries are now just over £40,000, with the most senior resident doctors getting £76,500 in basic pay. Thousands more can be earning each year through overtime and unsociable hours.
The BMA insists that England’s 75,000 resident doctors are earning a fifth less than they were in 2008, given inflation. This hardline stance has been continued in recent months despite few signs of the government budging and indications of flagging support inside the union. Next month’s strikes will disrupt NHS care and force hospitals to rearrange tens of thousands of diagnostic tests, outpatient appointments, and operations.
Dr Jack Fletcher, the chair of the BMA’s resident doctors committee, has, unsurprisingly, a very different take to Murray on who is to blame for the strikes. ‘He [Murray] had a genuine opportunity to break this logjam with fresh energy and ambition’, he said. ‘He has not taken it. Instead, we are hearing the same tired line: vagueness on new jobs and no further money on the table. We cannot be asked to negotiate in good faith for weeks, only to be told there is nothing left to negotiate about on pay and no further details at this stage on jobs.’
A Murray aide has since claimed the union ‘had already decided on industrial action – to the extent they’d lined up media interviews in advance to publicise it.’ Gordon Brown used to joke that there were only two types of chancellor: those who fail and those who get out in time. James Murray is only two weeks into the job, but as he contemplates the in-tray left by Wes Streeting, he might this evening be reflecting on whether Brown’s words apply to the Department of Health too.
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