Doctors receive a 22.3 percent salary increase over two years, which is far from the 35 percent they requested, but still enough for two-thirds of the 45,830 members to vote yes.
It would never have had to go this far, but we have shown what we can achieve with pure determination and a government willing to discuss a realistic way forward, say the union's chairpersons Robert Laurenson and Vivek Trevedi.
For the new Labour government, the agreement is a success. Health Minister Wes Streeting said that an agreement was top priority when he took office in July.
During the 18 months the conflict has been ongoing, the current category of doctors – who are at the beginning of their careers and make up about half of the workforce – have gone on strike for a total of 44 days, causing major disruptions in healthcare.
Laurenson and Trevedi note that despite the salary increase, doctors' real wages are nearly 21 percent below the level in 2008.
