SENIOR doctors in England have accepted a pay offer, ending a year-long dispute with the Government.

The British Medical Association (BMA) said members in England voted in favour by 83 per cent, describing the offer as an improvement on one rejected earlier this year, as well as including changes to the profession’s pay review body, the DDRB.

Consultants have taken strike action over the past year, adding to the NHS waiting list which has also been affected by the junior doctors’ dispute.

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The longest period of strike action involving consultants and junior doctors took place with strikes from October 2 to October 4 – during this period, ‘Christmas Day’ levels of staffing operated at York Hospital.

In September last year consultants in the BMA at York and across the country walked out for 48 hours and were joined on the second day by junior doctors – at the time, the first joint strike by the two bodies.

Consultants also took industrial action in July and August of last year.

The BMA said the offer consultants accepted includes important changes to the DDRB, which represents “significant progress” in returning the pay review body to its “original purpose and independence”.

A spokesperson for the BMA said: “These changes mean that the DDRB can no longer ignore the historical losses that doctors have suffered or the fact that countries abroad are competing for UK doctors with the offer of significantly higher salaries.

“The offer also improves on the previous proposal to reform the consultant pay scale.”

The accepted offer includes a 2.85 per cent (£3,000) uplift for those who have been consultants between four and seven years, who under the original offer received no additional uplift, said the BMA.

The offer is in addition to the six per cent awarded during the DDRB process last summer.

The BMA spokesperson added: “At the heart of this dispute was our concern for patients and the future sustainability of the NHS. Without valuing doctors, we lose them. Without doctors, we have no NHS and patients suffer.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “NHS leaders will breathe a sigh of relief to know that there will be no further damaging industrial action from NHS consultants for the foreseeable future.

“The health service relies heavily on its consultant workforce and these professionals have helped to keep the most life-critical services afloat including over the difficult winter period and the recent junior doctors’ walkouts."

A spokesperson for York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “We welcome today’s news that NHS consultants in England have accepted the pay offer to end their dispute and strike action with the government.”

Junior doctors in York will continue strike action for six more months after a vote was passed last month (March 20) with a 98 per cent majority.

The vote saw 33,869 junior doctors vote yes to the question: "Are you prepared to take part in strike action?"

The ballot had a turnout of 61.86 per cent, with 34,601 votes cast in total.