By Eniola Amadu
Junior doctors across Scotland are set to be balloted for strike action after the British Medical Association (BMA) Scotland accused ministers of “shamefully reneging” on a previous pay agreement.
The union said the government’s latest pay proposal for 2025/26 would have been the lowest across the UK and fell short of the recommendations made by the independent pay review body.
Health Secretary Neil Gray said he was “disappointed” by the BMA’s decision to move towards industrial action, insisting that the Scottish government had made a “fair, affordable, equitable pay offer”.
Junior doctors in Scotland narrowly avoided strike action in the summer of 2023 after reaching an agreement with the government on improved pay and conditions.
As part of that deal, BMA Scotland said ministers had pledged to make “credible progress” towards restoring pay levels over the next three financial years.
Chairman of the BMA’s Scottish Resident Doctor Committee (SRDC), Dr Chris Smith, said the government had “gone back on its word” and that members felt betrayed.
“This agreement was the only thing that prevented strike action by resident doctors in Scotland in 2023,” he said.
“We remain the UK’s only resident doctors not to have gone on strike since it was agreed. But that will be forced to change if our agreed deal is ignored.”
Dr Smith said doctors wanted a “negotiated settlement” but warned that only a “real improvement” in pay would prevent industrial action.
According to the union, junior doctors’ pay has fallen by about 17 per cent in real terms since 2008, leaving many struggling with rising costs and burnout.
“It is completely unacceptable and a far cry from the credible progress on pay restoration that we were promised,” he added.
The SRDC is now expected to request permission from the BMA’s UK Council to launch a formal ballot, which would determine whether strike action will go ahead later this year.
Responding to the criticism, Gray said junior doctors had been offered a 4.25 per cent pay increase for 2025/26 and a further 3.75 per cent the following year.
He said the offer matched the agreement accepted earlier this year by nurses and other NHS staff, reflecting “the value we place on the vital role of resident doctors in our hospitals and clinics.”
The health secretary said he shared the ambition to “reform and renew NHS Scotland” but warned that further strikes could threaten recent progress.
“No one will benefit from that, least of all patients,” he said, urging the BMA to reconsider its position.
