I am pleased to inform the House that the Government and the British Medical Association’s Resident Doctors Committee (BMA RDC) have agreed a deal to resolve their dispute on pay and training places, bringing an end to a period of industrial action that has seen 21 days of strike action in the past year. This follows a referendum of all resident doctor members of the BMA, in which a majority voted to accept the deal.

The deal is fair to doctors, affordable for the taxpayer and in the best interests of patients. Resident doctors will benefit from improved pay scales, better working conditions, enhanced career progression, and up to 4,500 new training places over the next three years.

I am incredibly grateful to staff across NHS who have kept NHS going during the recent rounds of industrial action. The absence of strikes by resident doctors will allow the NHS to focus on supporting patients and improving working conditions for all staff, rather than managing disruptive industrial action. When unions and the government work together, patients, staff, and services benefit.

The deal means resident doctors will be on average 35.2% better off than they were four years ago. It also means resident doctors will benefit from pay structure reform, leading to more frequent pay progression as they develop and gain additional skills which benefits the health service.

Up to 4,500 additional training places will also be created, giving more resident doctors the opportunity to progress in their careers to more senior roles. This builds on the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act, which now means UK medical graduates, and doctors with significant NHS experience, are prioritised for Foundation and Specialty training posts, which has halved competition ratios from 4:1 to just 2:1.

The offer will also put money back in doctors’ pockets, tackling the unique costs resident doctors experience through the reimbursement of mandatory Royal College portfolio and examinations fees, and will improve working conditions for Locally Employed Doctors and those who work less than full time.

Taken together, these measures recognise the vital contribution resident doctors make every day, while supporting the long-term sustainability of the NHS workforce. These changes are not simply investments in doctors. They are investments in patient care.

I want this agreement to mark the beginning of a new chapter of cooperation with resident doctors.

We must now begin to implement this deal and embed a new working relationship so that the NHS remains a place where doctors can thrive and develop.

This government is getting the NHS back on its feet and making it fit for the future. Waiting lists have fallen by 400,000 since we took office, satisfaction with general practice has increased from 60% to 76% and ambulances are arriving faster. The acceptance of this deal by resident doctors today is a significant milestone on that road to recovery.

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