Doctors strike called off as pay deal considered

Planned strike action by doctors over pay has been "deferred" while a new offer from the Isle of Man's health care provider Manx Care is considered.

British Medical Association (BMA) members were set to walk out for 48 hours from 07:00 on Wednesday.

The new deal would see an 8% pay uplift for 2023-24, and 8% for the current year, broken down into 6% backdated to 1 April last year with a further 2% added from 1 February 2025.

Health Minister Claire Christian told Tynwald members the parties had "reached an agreed position on the terms of a revised offer" on Monday night.

In a statement she said Manx Care had "negotiated and offered several options to try to address discrepancies in pay in comparison with their UK counterparts" and the agreement was based on that principle".

The BMA will now put the offer to its members.

Prakash Thiagarajan of the unions local negotiating committee said he was "relieved" planned action, which would have been the first of its kind on the island, would not be going ahead.

He said staff deserved to have their expertise "recognised" and be paid "fairly for the work that they do".

If accepted by members, the offer meant doctors could "continue to do what we do best – providing our patients with high quality care", he added.

Manx Care is set to contact patients the reinstate appointments cancelled in advance of the planned action where possible.

During the January sitting of the Manx parliament, members questioned how the new deal would be funded, and concerns were raised there might be further cuts following a reduction of some services announced in October in a bid to reduce a forecasted £16.8m overspend.

Former health minister Lawrie Hooper asked if the extra expenditure would be met "through a reduction to services" or via a "bid for additional funding".

Rob Callister asked if the predicted overspend would be "significantly higher" as a result of the offer, but Christian said the cost of any award would have to be met within the budget set by the Treasury and no services "would be under threat".

The BMA has argued pay for some of its members had faced "real term cuts" of up to 19% since 2008.

Manx Care previously said it had revised its existing offer of a 6% uplift for the 2023-24 year and a further 4% rise for 2024-25 in December to match salaries in England, which it said was "not accepted" by the union in early January.

In December, 95% of BMA members balloted, which included doctors, salaried dentists and consultants, said they were prepared to strike.

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