Not sure Noel Edmonds would wanna host this one…

Wes Streeting et al. have made a new offer to the “Moaning Minnies”, formerly known as The BMA. They hope the deal will put the “Juvenile Delinquents”, formerly known as resident doctors, at ease and stop next week's planned industrial action.

Is the deal any good? Let’s dissect…

On Wednesday, the 10th December, the offer was made. Wes led with this:

“Doctors asked me to deliver on jobs, especially unfair competition from overseas, and this comprehensive offer will deliver - providing resident doctors currently applying with more jobs, prioritising UK-trained graduates, and putting money back in the pockets of resident doctors. It builds on a 28.9% pay rise which has already been delivered.”

The deal supposedly includes a multitude of benefits, including:

Speciality training prioritisation for UKMG who’ve worked in the NHS for a significant period of time period

An additional 4,000 more training places, with 1000 being brought this year

Non-pecuniary(that’s a new word for you) benefits, such as reimbursement for exam fees.

For those working Less Than Full-time(LTFT), the allowance will bump from £1000 -> £1500

Obviously quite pleased with themselves, they’ve added a cheeky contingency.
If we reject the plan, the offer is revoked, and we’ll be left with nish! Way to lay down the law, Wes 👍Really showing us who’s the boss round here.

But hang about…

Does something smell off to you 🤔?
It’s the offer. And it smells just as bad as the side room of the patient with C.diff.

But let’s peel back the dressing on this oozing wound of a deal.

Fugazi Training Post:

So. About those 4000 “new” training posts being dangled in front of us. Turns out they’re not new at all. They appear to be just .

For those who don’t know, an LED stands for Locally Employed Doctor. These are your trust-grade doctors and clinical fellows. They’re real doctors, but they’re not in a formal training programme. No guaranteed supervision. No structured progression. Just vibes and rota gaps.

So what’s the plan?

Take these already-existing non-training jobs, repackage them with a shiny badge(speciality training posts), and pretend the workforce crisis is being solved. It’s a temporary patch on a chronic wound.
There’s no increase in the number of doctor jobs, just a reshuffle.

Worse yet, these posts will all vanish in a couple of years(temporary means temporary!). As it stands, they will not recur in the future. Potentially returning a fresh batch of doctors to the seas of unemployment. Sweet 🙃

UKMG Prioritisation: When Exactly?

Yeah… how?

The emergency legislation has failed to explain any details on how and when this prioritisation is set to work. It’s a bit wishy-washy at the moment. Fear being, accepting the deal will lead to another season of bureaucratic delays, postponing this action on this legislation into oblivion. In other words, we’re being asked to vote now and trust the details will appear later… a familiar NHS tradition.

Where Else Has it Fallen Short?

No detail on who gets these posts: We’re not told which specialities, which regions, or what training levels (core vs higher) will benefit.

No job security guarantees: There’s nothing for doctors already stuck in the bottleneck. No protections, no bridging roles, no assurances.

LTFT uplift is delayed and limited: The allowance rise to £1,500 doesn’t kick in until April 2026 and only applies to those on the 2016 contract.

No movement on conditions: No commitments on overtime pay, antisocial hours, nodal point reform, rota safety, or training quality.

Oh… and how could we forget. No mention of any advance on pay restorations!

The BMA have put the deal out to members via an online poll closing Monday :

Yes to the deal: No Strikes. BMA strike mandate is extended to allow implementation

No to the deal: Strikes continue. Deal off the table. Back to the picket line.

The offer, in actuality, isn’t all bad. But is it what you want?

Deal or no deal?

[Insert Poll]