Doctors threaten strike action after 4% pay rise announcement

Doctors are threatening strike action, after ministers announced they would receive a 4% pay rise following the latest review of public sector pay.

The British Medical Association (BMA), the union representing doctors, said the pay rise does not go far enough in restoring historical pay freezes.

The National Education Union (NEU), the largest union for teachers, meanwhile threatened to “register a dispute” with the Government unless it fully funds the 4% pay rise for teachers, part of which is currently due to be covered by existing school budgets.

It has said it will look to campaign with parents for the Government to invest in education.

Both professions in England will receive a 4% increase, according to statements released by ministers on Thursday afternoon, while other NHS workers will get 3.6%.

The total cost of pay rises across the public sector are “worth £6.9 billion in total”, Downing Street said.

NHS staff in Wales are also likely to be given the same pay award, as the Welsh Government has accepted the same recommendations.

The increases, recommended by independent pay review bodies, are above the rate of inflation, which jumped to 3.5% in April, up from 2.6% in March and the highest since January 2024.

But Professor Philip Banfield, the BMA’s chairman of council, warned it was already considering strike action, as the union believes the pay rise does not do enough to restore doctors’ pay after previous salary freezes.

“Doctors’ pay is still around a quarter less than it was in real terms 16 years ago and today’s ‘award’ delays pay restoration even more, without a Government plan or reassurance to correct this erosion of what a doctor is worth,” he said.

Other NHS workers in England, including nurses, midwives and physiotherapists among other frontline workers, will receive a 3.6% pay uplift, effective from April 1, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said.

NHS staff who are members of the GMB union and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will be asked to vote on whether to accept the award.

RCN general secretary and chief executive Professor Nicola Ranger warned the pay award was “entirely swallowed up by inflation and does nothing to change the status quo – where nursing is not valued, too few enter it and too many quit”.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the pay rise for teachers, which will also be awarded to school leaders, will only be partly covered by the Government.

An additional £615 million of funding will be provided to schools this financial year to help them with the costs of pay awards for staff, she added, roughly equivalent to three quarters of the pay rise.

Schools will be required to fund the remaining quarter of the pay rise through “improved productivity and smarter spending”, according to the Education Secretary.

Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, said in many schools this would result in “cuts in service provision to children and young people, job losses, and additional workloads for an already overstretched profession”.

He added: “Unless the Government commit to fully funding the pay rise then it is likely that the NEU will register a dispute with the Government on the issue of funding, and campaign to ensure every parent understands the impact of a cut in the money available to schools, and that every politician understands this too.”

Elsewhere, most members of the armed forces will be given a 4.5% pay rise, according to Defence Secretary John Healey, while senior members of the military will receive a 3.75% rise.

Senior civil servants will get a 3.25% pay rise, according to the Cabinet Office, but ministers plan to defer rolling out new pay bands as part of a review of salaries among the upper echelons of the Civil Service.

Prison officers and managers are also set to get a 4% pay rise, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said.

Judicial office holders, a group which includes judges, will also get a 4% pay rise, after Ms Mahmood rejected a recommendation their pay should rise by 4.75%.

Ministers need to act to “get a grip” amid the threat of strikes from public sector workers, the Tories warned.

Edward Argar, shadow health secretary, said: “We warned Labour that the unions would simply come back for more when they gave in to the strikes and agreed to above-inflation pay demands with no strings attached.

“Now, with the threat of renewed strikes once again casting a shadow over the NHS, that warning is becoming reality.

“The Government need to get a grip, say how they’ll pay for above-inflation pay rises without taking money from services for patients and to stand up to the unions by negotiating a fair, affordable deal for taxpayers, or the real losers from this will be the patients.”