Date set for strike ballot among resident doctors in Scotland

Resident doctors in Scotland will be balloted on industrial action next month in an ongoing dispute over pay, a union has announced.

The ballot comes after BMA Scotland accused the Scottish Government of reneging on a deal made in 2023 to make “credible progress” towards restoring pay to 2008 levels in each of the following three years.

The union said the Government’s pay offer for resident doctors – formerly known as junior doctors – for the next year would see them receive a real-terms pay cut, “throwing away” progress made in the past two years.

The ballot is set to open on November 14 and run until December 19.

Dr Chris Smith, chairman of the BMA’s Scottish resident doctor committee (SRDC), said: “Doctors have been shocked that the Scottish Government seem to be intent on throwing away the progress made in restoring our pay over the last two years and are clear they will stand up to protect the deal which was agreed in good faith by both sides.

“As always, we are ready to negotiate at any time and any place.

“But we will not sit idle while the Scottish Government attempts to break the deal that they struck with Scottish resident doctors in 2023.”

He said November 14 will be a “hugely significant day” for resident doctors in Scotland and south of the border, with the strike ballot opening on the same day as the first day of the next scheduled strike for resident doctors in England.

He went on: “I know I speak for all Scottish doctors when I say we stand beside them.

“The Scottish Government now has the chance to draw a dividing line between them and Westminster, and all that requires is to revert to the status quo: return to the negotiating room with BMA Scotland, in good faith and with a credible pay offer in line with the promises they made in the deal we signed.

“Until now Scotland has been the only nation in the UK to avoid industrial action and there is time to avert this action – but only if the Scottish Government honours the commitment it made.”

Dr Smith described the response by the Scottish Government until now as “disappointing”, and said it had ignored the union’s calls for negotiations to resume.

He went on: “I’ve written to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care again to inform him of the ballot dates, and hope that this time the Government will take the necessary steps to reverse their decisions which are putting the NHS Scotland on the path to disruptive strike action.”

Responding to the announcement, Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray said industrial action would be “in no-one’s best interests, least of all the patients who rely on our NHS”.

He went on: “I respect the BMA’s right to pursue this course of action, but I remain disappointed that they have chosen to be in dispute with the Scottish Government.

“I encourage the BMA’s resident doctor membership to reject the option of industrial action.

“I have made a fair, affordable, equitable pay offer of 4.25% for 2025/26, with a further 3.75% for 2026/27. This is the same offer that nurses and other NHS staff chose to accept earlier this year and shows the value we also place on the role that resident doctors play in our hospitals and health clinics.

“We have invested significantly in resident doctors’ pay over the last two years, agreeing an uplift of 12.4% for 2023/24 and a cumulative uplift of 11% for 2024/25.

“These were the highest pay awards across the public sector that, I believe, were justified to begin the process of delivering on the 2023 agreement in good faith.

“We remain absolutely committed to honouring that agreement.”