The Health Secretary says settling the resident doctors’ dispute will cost £200 million this year, which is “less than the cost of one more week’s worth of strikes”.
The deal was agreed by ministers and the British Medical Association (BMA) on Monday.
“The cost of settling the dispute this year is less than the cost of one more week’s worth of strikes,” James Murray told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday.
“It’s £200 million this year, and that is less than it would cost if we had another week of strikes. Strikes cost about £50 million a day.
“This is good for taxpayers, it’s good for resident doctors, it’s good for other NHS staff, because other NHS staff have been doing an amazing job stepping up to keep services running when strikes have been happening.
“But most of all, this is good for patients, this is good for the NHS, because it means we can now work with resident doctors to strengthen the NHS and make sure it’s providing patients with the service they deserve.”
Since July last year, there have been 21 days of strikes by resident doctors in England.
Mr Murray told GB News the deal has “broken the cycle of strikes”.
He said: “We know that strikes over recent years have cost the NHS billions, and when resident doctors have been on strike, other NHS staff have had to step up to help keep the NHS going, now what this means is that we’ve broken that cycle of strikes.
“We’ve been in a cycle of strikes for months, for years, where the strikes have caused an impact on NHS services, even though we have kept things going, kept most appointments in place, it has had a really big impact not just on patients but also on NHS staff who have had to step up to cover the strikes.
“The fact that we are now at the end of that process, and the BMA has said ‘the strikes now are over’, means that we can move forward.”
He told Sky News: “This is an opportunity for a new, better relationship with working with resident doctors and building on trust so that we can work together for the benefit of the NHS over the months and years ahead.”
The Government said the deal means resident doctors’ pay will be 35.2 per cent higher on average compared to four years ago.
Just over half (53 per cent) of resident doctors who voted on the deal voted in favour of accepting the offer.
The deal means the most senior resident doctors will be on a basic wage of £80,730 in 2027/28, which will increase once additional hours are factored in.
On average, the deal offers resident doctors a 6.6 per cent pay uplift.
By 2027/28, first-year doctors in training will get a basic wage of £41,226.
Dr Jack Fletcher, chairman of the BMA resident doctors committee, said on Monday: “Resident doctors have spoken. They have decided that the current offer is sufficient to continue on the road to pay restoration and sufficient to address the absurd lack of jobs in the NHS. The strikes will now end.”
