As junior doctors strikes come to an end after four days the Prime Minister has said that discussions “on pay is now closed.”
On Tuesday the Health Minister Will Quince said that negotiations on pay have come to an end however, he said he is “open” to talk about other problems.
Quince told Sky News: “It’s hugely disappointing that both the junior doctors of the BMA and the consultants are still taking industrial action.
“And that’s despite the Government having accepted in full the recommendations of the independent Pay Review Body.
“Take junior doctors for example – we accepted the recommendation, which is an average of 8.8% (rise for average junior doctors) or 10.3% for new doctors just starting out in training.
“The Prime Minister has been really clear that the discussion on pay is now closed.
“My door remains open to discuss other issues around working environments and conditions, but pay is closed and I think that’s the right decision.”
BMA junior doctors committee co-chairmen Dr Rob Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said in a statement during the strike, “This Government and the Health Secretary have grown increasingly intransigent, belligerent and unwilling to talk about how we can end this dispute, and indeed are now expending more energy on making spurious claims about the reasons for our legitimate campaign than they are about settling the dispute.
“Steve Barclay has singularly failed to make any significant steps towards ending this dispute and, as he continues to posture and pontificate, the waiting list goes up and more patients see their treatment delayed.
“What he and the Prime Minister should be doing is getting back round the table with us to find a way of ending this dispute.”
