Doctors to vote on industrial action over pay

Doctors are to vote over taking industrial action in a dispute with the Isle of Man's healthcare provider over pay.

The British Medical Association (BMA) said doctors were asking for a 7.9% rise to help tackle pay erosion because wages had not keeping pace with inflation over the previous 18 years.

Planned strike action was called off last January after doctors agreed an 8% pay rise in a deal covering two financial years from 2023-24.

The ballot is set to run from 12 June to 2 July. Manx Care has been asked for a response.

The deal agreed last year saw an 8% pay uplift awarded for 2023-24, and 8% for 2024-25, broken down into 6% backdated to 1 April 2024, with a further 2% added from 1 February 2025.

The BMA said when that deal was accepted, doctors were "clear that future action would be likely if future pay deals did not bring them closer to pay restoration".

The difference between pay rises and inflation on the island since 2008 meant "real pay" was still down by 29%, the union said.

Chair of the Isle of Man Medical Society, Dr Prakash Thiagarajan, said doctors "deserve to be paid fairly for the work they do" and the pay erosion they had experienced was "unfair and untenable".

"No doctor wants to go on strike, but without an acceptable offer from Manx Care, this is a very real possibility," he said.

Deputy chair of the BMA council, Dr Emma Runswick, said doctors had been "undervalued for far too long" and "stand ready to fight for recognition of their skills and expertise".

Pressures at the island's main hospital have been well documented recently, with measures including cancelling some non-urgent surgery rolled out after a spike in admissions in May.

The issues were, in some instances, exacerbated by the continued closure of much of Ramsey Cottage Hospital for extensive refurbishment and improvement works.

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