England's resident doctors call off planned strikes after new government offer

Resident doctors in England have called off strikes scheduled to begin on Monday.

The British Medical Association said the government made a new offer at the last minute that will be put to members for a vote. The walkout had been set to run from 07:00 BST on Monday 15 June until 06:59 on Friday 19 June and would have been the 16th in the long-running pay dispute.

Health Secretary James Murray said the offer was a chance to draw a line under the damaging disputes of recent years. The BMA said it had held up its end of the bargain after the government shifted its position.

The two sides had been in talks for days, including on Saturday just hours before the strike was called off.

While NHS England said 95% of operations and appointments were due to go ahead, thousands have been postponed. Reinstating them on the original timetable will be a tough task for hospitals.

Government sources said there was no extra money on the table for this year but that the offer proposed faster increases next year in pay scales. It also promised 4,500 extra training places for newly qualified doctors and that doctors' exam fees would be covered.

Resident doctors have received pay rises worth 33% over the past four years, including a 3.5% increase this year. Starting salaries are now just over £40,000, with the most senior resident doctors getting £76,500 in basic pay. They can earn thousands more each year for working unsociable times and additional hours.

The BMA argues they are still being paid a fifth less than they were in 2008 once inflation is taken into account.

Murray said it was a positive development, especially for patients, that the BMA had called off the strikes. He said the country could not afford to increase the pay offer for this year but was pleased the union had recognised this, allowing progress in other areas such as training places and working conditions.

Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of the BMA's resident doctors committee, said the union had always been clear that no strikes needed to go ahead if it received an offer appropriate to put to its members. He said the offer should not have been left to the last moment but that the BMA held up its end of the bargain when the government shifted its position.

Sir Ciarán Devane, chief executive of the NHS Alliance, called the suspension a vital chance to reset the conversation and urged both sides to strike a fair, sustainable agreement.

The strike was originally called after Murray made it clear during a meeting in May that he was not willing to negotiate on pay, saying the union's demands were unrealistic and unaffordable.