Doctors need to work with NHS, not against it

Resident doctors have a strong case for a generous pay rise. Their average pay has fallen by one-fifth since 2008, taking inflation into account, even after last year’s 5.4 per cent rise. But to demand a 29 per cent increase, and to rush into a strike ballot to support it, is a counterproductive and damaging tactic.

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Last year, they secured a better deal than most public-sector workers, and there were no strings attached requiring more efficient working practices. They should believe Wes Streeting when he tells them: “You will not find another health and social care secretary as sympathetic to resident (formerly junior) doctors as me,” according to The Independent.

Mr Streeting secured a funding settlement for the NHS over the next four years that is generous compared with other departments. But a real-terms increase of 3 per cent a year is only around the long-run historical average. It is half the rate achieved in the New Labour years. So there is no scope for utopian pay settlements (such as the excessively generous GP contracts negotiated in Tony Blair’s time).