‘It’s heartbreaking’: resident doctors in England face halt on new training posts | Doctors

Heather Gunn says she is preparing herself for unemployment after working as a junior doctor in the NHS for almost two years. Like many of his colleagues, he was desperate to secure one of up to 4,500 additional training posts the government had agreed to establish in England over three years to help doctors progress into more specialist areas.

The posts were promised during negotiations between the doctors’ union, the British Medical Association (BMA) and the government over a long-running dispute over junior doctors’ pay and job security.

Last week, the first 1,000 of these posts were withdrawn, with disputes over pay still unresolved. Talks between the parties broke down again and the union refused to call off its 15th strike since 2023, which was scheduled to begin on Tuesday morning and last for six days. Health secretary Wes Streeting told the BMA in a letter shared on social media that it would “not be operationally or financially feasible” to make the posts available while NHS providers grapple with the financial consequences of industrial action.

Gunn, 27, was hoping to pursue a position in pediatrics or emergency medicine. Junior doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, are in the early years of their careers and many work on fixed-term contracts. The withdrawal of new roles means Gunn will have no job to go to when his employment ends in August. Still, he continues to support the strikes and says he “absolutely” plans to participate.

“I was quite appalled that the government thought they could basically gamble on patient safety and care,” says Gunn, who lives in Oxford. “At the end of the day, they are the ones suffering. My lack of training means there is one less doctor who can see these patients.”

“When families are worried their child is unwell and they can’t get to the doctor, and patients are waiting 12+ hours in the emergency room, and I’m home because I can’t be there, I can’t work, I can’t see these patients. I’m disgusted that the government thinks this is a bargaining chip they can play with.”

The government said a move to permanent contracts was on the table before negotiations collapsed. “Such reforms are exactly what the proposal proposes to deliver in the absence of disruptive strike action,” said a source familiar with the negotiations.

But pay remains the main problem. The government claims junior doctors will see a 35% increase in pay over the last four years if the BMA accepts the latest proposed deal. Most doctors were offered a 3.5% increase this year; this is higher than the 3.3% offered to some other NHS workers. In his letter to the BMA, Streeting said the lowest-paid junior doctors had been offered pay rises of up to 7.1%.

But the BMA wants the government to work to return wages to 2008 levels; This means another 26% increase when inflation is taken into account. Gunn and his colleagues think this is more urgent than ever, given the strain on the global economy amid the war in Iran. The government objected to the BMA’s calculation of wage erosion claims based on the retail price index, saying it was outdated and inaccurate. The BMA says it uses this method because it is also used to calculate interest on student loans.

The union adds that in addition to a real cut in wages, there has also been a deterioration in doctors’ working conditions. He warned that more doctors could leave the UK if the situation is not resolved.

“Every time the government says they don’t have enough money to restructure wages,” says Gunn, [NHS trusts] We spend millions of pounds getting locums at high rates for people to cover strikes, so there’s money there. People felt like they had money to put into those extra 1,000 places. “It’s a poor excuse for them to turn around at the last minute and say the money is no longer there.”

Another government source said officials were struggling to understand why the talks collapsed at the 11th hour. “It felt like we were getting somewhere and then at the last minute everything fell apart and we’re not sure why,” they said. Streeting argued that junior doctors were being offered the highest pay rise in the public sector.

This means there is unrest among union leaders representing other NHS staff, especially when some have been offered lower pay rises, the Guardian reported on Saturday. “The deals we can offer our members are becoming much harder to sell,” one said.

The second government source added that training places were “more something the BMA wants than something the NHS urgently needs”. They said: “Of course, it’s good to have more doctors in the workforce and to give them those progression opportunities, but it’s not like the NHS is going to fall apart because there aren’t those 1,000 places.” The government said in a statement that it was “grossly misleading” to suggest that patient safety would be affected by withdrawing training places.

The majority of the public does not support the strikes. A poll of nearly 7,000 people by YouGov last month showed 53 per cent of respondents opposed the latest round of industrial action, with 31 per cent strongly against it. Some elective and non-urgent care has been postponed during the strike, meaning patients are waiting longer for treatment, but the NHS says this is trying to minimize disruption.

“It’s incredibly frustrating when things like electives get canceled,” Gunn admits. “But I think once the public realizes the government is holding things to ransom [and] This is gambling with their interests, in the hope that the public can see why we are striking; it is in their interest. “We want to be experts in our fields so that we can offer them the best quality care.”

A health department spokesman said: “Rather than supporting a credible offer that would significantly improve its members’ pay, working lives and career opportunities, the BMA has chosen to continue damaging strike action and has failed to offer any counter-offer. We call on the BMA to reconsider and work with us to reach an agreement that will benefit its members and patients.”

Given that both sides are unwilling to give up, the future of Gunn and many of his colleagues is uncertain. It is not yet known whether support for the continuation of the strikes will continue. Participation in BMA votes on junior doctors’ pay has fallen significantly since the first strike in early 2023.

“I spent many years in college to become a doctor; I have three degrees; I am dedicated to medicine,” says Gunn. “I will be unemployed in August, with thousands of patients arriving at the hospital every day waiting to be seen. Despite all the sacrifices I have made in my personal life, not receiving an education is heartbreaking.”