Strike called off in light of new offer

After announcing strike dates of 23 and 24 January, the BMA continued to negotiate with Manx Care and received an offer which the LNC put to members with a recommendation to accept. We therefore decided to postpone the strike to allow members to consider whether they wished to accept the offer and end the dispute. 

The referendum closed on Monday 27 January and 91% of members voted to accept the offer (on a 75% turnout), ending our dispute with Manx Care and banking a pay uplift for doctors for 23/24 and 24/25, with back pay. More details of the deal and its implementation have been emailed to affected members. You can also read our press release summarising the offer.

Isle of Man doctors overwhelmingly vote to support industrial action

Doctors on the Isle of Man have voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking industrial action with 95% of doctors voting yes in a ballot over pay. 

Breakdown of full results: 

• Number of members entitled to vote in the ballot: 169
• Number of votes cast: 127
• Number of 'yes' votes: 121
• Number of 'no' votes:6
• Number of spoiled ballot papers: 0

This is the first time doctors on the island have been balloted in this way.

How we got here

Since 2008, all doctors on the Isle of Man have suffered real terms pay cuts year after year. For example, between April 2008 and April 2023, inflation increased by 56.3% on the island, while the maximum consultant’s salary increased by just 27.3% over the same period.  

Earlier this year, we requested a fair and reasonable 12.6% pay increase to go some way towards addressing this pay erosion, but Manx Care have been intransigent in their refusal.  

While doctors across the UK have been fighting for full pay restoration and making progress towards that goal, doctors on the Isle of Man have been forgotten. Pay scales on the island are significantly lower than those of colleagues in the UK, with resident doctors and SAS doctors being the worst affected. It is time for Manx Care to make pay fair. 

Manx Care’s unwillingness to negotiate means this ballot is the logical and inevitable next step. We have already carried out an indicative ballot and of those who responded (108 out of 155), 84% said they were willing to take Industrial Action. What’s more, a recent survey designed by the NHS and Kings’ College London sent to all doctors directly employed by Manx Care also produced some damning results.  

Of those who responded to the survey: 

• only 15% would recommend Manx Care as a good place to work 
• 81% disagreed with the statement “Manx Care has a positive culture” 
• 67% believe they do not have the resources they need to do a good job 
• and only 20% agreed that they have sufficient time to do their job well. 

We need to start with fixing pay and Manx Care have left us no option but to move towards Industrial Action in pursuit of that goal.