Hospital dental trainee industrial action in England
NHS trade unions are increasingly pushing back against below inflation pay awards from the Department of Health and some have proceeded to calling industrial action.
In collaboration with the BMA, we have campaigned for full pay restoration for junior doctors and hospital dental trainees in England and have participated in multiple rounds of industrial action since the beginning of 2023 in aid of this dispute.
Government pay offer and upcoming referendum
Following the BMA and BDA’s significant campaigning efforts and sustained industrial action over the last two years, the Government has presented a final pay offer for Junior Doctors and Hospital Dental Trainees in England. The total pay uplift on offer will amount to an average increase of 22.3% over the course of two years.
The BMA’s Junior Doctor Committee believes the offer is credible enough to be put to members in a referendum, and both the BDA and BMA are endorsing an acceptance of the deal.
We intend to put the offer to our England Hospital Dental Trainees members in a referendum commencing on Monday 19 August and closing on Sunday 15 September. The referendum will run on the same timeline as the BMA’s referendum of Junior Doctors and after the vote closes, our results will be passed to the BMA to determine a whole cohort view.
All England hospital dental trainee members will receive an invite via email to participate in the referendum. In the meantime, we strongly urge these members to familiarise themselves with the detail of the deal before having their say.
The offer comprises an additional 4.05% pay uplift for the 2023/24 pay year, on top of the 8.8% previously offered. This means last year’s pay uplift will amount to an average of 13.2% (backdated to April 2023). Separately, following the DDRB’s recommendations, the pay award announced by government will give those on the Junior Doctor contract an average increase of 8% across the pay scales for the 2024/25 pay year. For a fuller summary of the offer, please see the BMA’s press release and detailed breakdown of the deal.
Industrial action mandate
In August 2024, we renewed our mandate for full strike action at 13 eligible trusts, extending our authority to call for strike action for another six months. We also secured a mandate for action short of strike at 12 trusts. The list of eligible trusts can be found below.
Frequently asked questions
If you have recently joined the BDA and you are employed by one of the Trusts listed above, please contact [email protected].
If non-members take action on the dates the BDA takes action it will not be classed as official action and the dentist in question may find themselves facing action from their employers.
If you would like to be included in any future action, join the BDA.
Hospital dentists are employed on the same contract as their medical colleagues. Any action we take will coincide with that being taken by the BMA.
Clinical academics often work alongside hospital colleagues, but the key difference is that they are employed on University contracts of employment and have an honorary hospital status. At the moment it is only trainees directly employed by Trusts on substantive trainee contracts who are taking action.
You can also read our frequently asked questions about industrial action and ballots.