Yousaf reiterates offer of help to mediate junior doctors strikes

Junior doctors in England are due back to work on Saturday.

The Scottish Government struck a deal with junior doctors earlier this year (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

Scotland’s First Minister has reiterated his Government’s offer to mediate talks between UK ministers and health unions to end the junior doctor strikes.

Medics in England walked out this week and are not due back until 7am on Saturday in a row over pay and conditions.

In August, the Scottish Government and junior doctors agreed a 12.4% pay rise and further inflationary rises up until 2026-27.

I reiterate our offer to the UK Government that we're willing to mediate in their dispute, so no more days of NHS activity are lost to strike

Humza Yousaf

Meanwhile, the rift between the UK Government and the junior doctors has been growing, with the British Medical Association (BMA) accusing Health Secretary Victoria Adkins of “trying to divide the profession”.

In a post on X – formerly Twitter – Humza Yousaf said: “In Scotland, we have avoided NHS strikes by agreeing a fair pay deal with junior doctors.

“I reiterate our offer to the UK Government that we’re willing to mediate in their dispute, so no more days of NHS activity are lost to strike.”

The offer was originally made in August, in the weeks after the deal with Scottish junior doctors was sealed.

The UK Government has also offered its help to Scotland’s health service to reduce high waiting times.

This week, the Health Secretary said: “It is disappointing that despite significant progress the BMA Junior Doctors Committee have walked away from negotiations and declared new strikes, which will result in more disruption for patients and extra pressure on NHS services and staff as we enter a busy winter period, risking patient safety.

“I have been clear that I respect the work of doctors in training and want to work with them to settle this dispute.

“We have agreed a fair and reasonable offer with the BMA’s Consultants Committee which is being put to members for vote following constructive talks.

“If the Junior Doctors Committee call off their strikes, we will immediately look to come back to the table to continue negotiations.”

It is also understood that an independent moderator has been tasked with chairing the talks between the Department of Health and Social Care and the unions since negotiations began.

Mr Yousaf also accused the Health Secretary of being “disrespectful” to junior doctors in a clip where she said she prefers to call them “doctors in training”.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “The British Medical Association has passed a motion to discontinue the use of the term ‘junior doctor’.

“To respect this and so we can continue to distinguish between different groups of doctors, we are using the contractual term doctors in training as collectively agreed with the union in this round of negotiations.”