UK govt reaches pay deal with senior doctors

London: Britain’s government reached a deal with senior doctors in England that could potentially end a series of disruptive strikes, officials said Monday.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it submitted a pay offer to doctors’ unions after weeks of talks, and union leaders agreed to put the proposal to their members for a vote.

The British Medical Association said the government’s offer is for an extra 4.95% this financial year on top of a 6% pay increase already awarded.

Thousands of senior physicians walked off the job for 48-hour periods earlier this year to demand better pay and working conditions from

the government, causing major disruptions at hospitals across England. Those strikes came on top of similar

industrial actions by junior doctors, nurses and other health workers who organised their own strikes to obtain pay raises.