English junior doctors ‘politicising their pay because they don’t like the Conservatives’ – Douglas Ross

Junior doctors walked out across the English NHS earlier this week due to an ongoing dispute around pay.

Douglas Ross has accused English junior doctors of politicising their pay demands due to a dislike of the UK Conservative government.

The Scottish Conservative leader, when asked why the UK Government would not offer the same pay deal to junior doctors in England that has been accepted in Scotland, said he believed NHS staff wanted to make their pay a “political issue”.

BMA Scotland accepted the offer from Scottish health secretary Michael Matheson earlier this week which will see wages rise by 12.4 per cent in 2023-24, with Scottish ministers further guaranteeing increases in line with inflation until at least 2026-27.

Douglas Ross was visiting Prestwick Airport with MSP colleague, Sharon Dowey

In England, the health department has offered a six per cent rise along with an additional consolidated £1,250 increase, which the Government describes as an “average increase of around 8.8 per cent”.

However this has been rejected and staff walked out for several days south of the border.

Douglas Ross, speaking at a visit to businesses in Ayrshire, claimed junior doctors in England had been offered the chance to accept the same deal as Scottish junior doctors and had turned it down.

He said: “We’ve actually seen when the junior doctor representatives in England were asked would they accept the very same deal that’s now been accepted, they said no.

"Because they want to make this a political issue against a Conservative government at a UK level rather than getting a deal that works for junior doctors and gets them back to work."

He added: “I think junior doctors have accepted that their campaigners have done that [politicised their pay]. They were asked distinctly would you accept the very same offer that has been made to Scottish junior doctors and they said no.

"Because they want to make this an issue against the government. That’s not me saying this, that’s an admission from their leadership.

"I’m not part of the negotiations through the UK Government but I know there have been a number of offers made, but even if that offer were made, the exact same as what’s been offered here in Scotland, they have said they would not accept it because they want to keep challenging the UK Government.”

However, the Scottish deal has never been formally offered to junior doctors in England, with BMA representatives having only rejected the deal when answering questions from the BBC.

Rishi Sunak’s government has repeatedly said the most recent offer, several per cent below the Scottish offer and without a commitment to future inflation-matching pay rises, is the final offer.

Mr Ross was also asked why his health spokesperson, Sandesh Gulhane, had not stepped back from his front bench role after being selected to fight for a Westminster seat at the next general election.

Stephen Kerr, viewed widely as a potential leadership challenger, lost his role as education spokesperson when he was selected to fight to become an MP earlier this year.

Mr Ross said Dr Gulhane is “uniquely placed” to keep his role due to his job as a GP meant it would be wrong to lose him from the front bench.

He added: “I want to make sure we have that experience leading the fight from the Conservative benches, holding the SNP Government to account on healthcare.”

The Scottish Conservatives were found to be languishing on 15 per cent in a recent YouGov poll, seven points down from their result in the 2021 Holyrood election.

Asked whether he believed he remained the right man for the job, Mr Ross said “absolutely, yes.”

He added he also believed the party could add to its tally of six MPs at the next Westminster election despite their nationwide struggles.