Resident doctor pay talks to continue over Christmas as strike looms

The Scottish government has said it will continue negotiating pay with resident doctors over Christmas in order to avoid a strike in the new year.

On Friday, medics voted in favour of a four-day strike, in what could the first national walkout staged by NHS workers in Scotland.

Having met BMA Scotland representatives earlier, Health Secretary Neil Gray told BBC Scotland he was "going to look at what compromises can be made" in the coming weeks.

He said there were still areas to discuss, but "substantial" progress had already been made on doctors' pay since a deal was struck in 2023.

"Both sides want to find a way to avoid what would be incredibly disruptive industrial action at the height of winter," he said.

"I've committed to further discussions over the course of the Christmas/New Year period and into the new year.

"At the end of the day we want to make sure that we can do the best for residents but also the best for staff and patients across the NHS."

Dr Chris Smith, who chairs BMA Scotland's resident doctors committee said the discussions had been "useful" and welcomed a "constructive approach".

He said: "Further negotiations are now planned, which is crucial as we clearly need considerable and urgent progress if we are to avoid strikes which resident doctors in Scotland voted for overwhelming in the ballot that closed last week."

Resident doctors - who used to be called junior doctors - make up about 42% of all Scotland's doctors.

They range from newly qualified doctors to those with 10 years or more experience.

Scotland had been the only part of the UK to have avoided strike action by NHS workers.

A series of strikes by resident doctors in England has led to thousands of operations and procedures being cancelled.

A strike in Scotland in the summer of 2023 was called off at the last minute after a deal was agreed.

But now doctors have accused the Scottish government of reneging on a commitment to restore their pay to 2008 levels.

The latest strike ballot had a 58% turnout of the 5,185 doctors eligible to vote, with 92% (3,008) voting in favour.

Strike dates have been set for 07:00 on Tuesday 13 January to 07:00 on Saturday 17 January 2026.

The two-year offer from the Scottish government was for a 4.25% increase in 2025/26 and 3.75% in 26/27.

It is the same offer that nurses, paramedics and other NHS workers accepted earlier this year.

BMA Scotland said it would have been the lowest in the UK and was less than was recommended by the independent pay review body.

The current offer would see the basic pay for a newly qualified doctor rise from £34,500 to £37,345 for 2026/27 and for a doctor with 10 years experience rise from £71,549 to £77,387.

Medics will often be expected to work night shifts, weekend or longer hours for which they will receive extra payments.

Dr Lucas O'Donnell, deputy chairman of BMA Scotland's resident doctors committee, said the Scottish government was "tearing up" the 2023 deal with its latest offer.

He said doctors' pay increases had been below the rate of inflation for the last 15 years, and that currently, doctors started on a rate of £17.40 per hour - which the BMA wants to see increased to £20.90 per hour.

"For doctors who are looking after, at times, 150 patients, at a time when you are the first responder to heart attacks, strokes, cardiac arrests, I don't think £20.90 is some kind of largess or luxury," he told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast.

"We want to keep doctors in Scotland and unfortunately I've lost count of the amount of colleagues I've lost to Australia, to Canada.

"We had a deal which prevented strikes, we just want to keep to what the Scottish government had already agreed."

Following talks on Monday, Neil Gray again disagreed with BMA Scotland's claims that the latest pay offer broke the previous deal.

He added: "I recognise that they want us to go further and that's where further discussions will be had."

Health boards are making preparations to minimise disruption in the event a strike goes ahead, but Gray said "there is no way that we can avoid all the implications that industrial action will cause".