Doctors employed by Manx Care on the Isle of Man are to ballot for industrial action.
The British Medical Association is asking for a 12.6 percent uplift in pay for the 23/24 financial year.
Siobhán Fletcher caught up with Dr Prakash Thiagarajan to find out more.
Hi, I'm Siobhan Fletcher, one of the journalists up at Monks Radio and welcome to this latest edition of our newscast. First of all, can you introduce yourself for me? My name is Prakash Thiagarajan. I'm a consultant, pediatrician and neonatologist. I'm also chair of the Isle of Man Medical Society and the local negotiating committee of the BMA. Okay, so we're talking tonight as doctors on the Isle of Man are set to ballot for industrial action. This came out from the British Medical Association this evening. I guess first of all, why have you got the staves that this is the next step you want to take? Historically, whenever a pay raise was agreed in the UK, that used to be the starting point for pay raise for Monks doctors. But ever since Monks Care came into existence, that tradition has been lost. And this time, the last pay raise we were given was back in April 2022. Since then, we haven't had a pay raise at all. In fact, we got a very first offer of pay raise for 23, 24, eight months after the date it should have been implemented. And we had put in a claim of 12.6%. That was derived from the then prevailing inflation, plus the loss from the previous year's inflation and a nominal 1% towards pay restoration. Might have heard of pay restoration that is comparing to pre-osterity measures in the UK to post-osterity. Many of the doctors have lost out significant amounts of pay in real terms. Most of the Isle of Man doctors have lost up to a third of their pay in real terms over these years. Obviously, we are not asking to restore it in one go. But if we can get a credible offer, even now it's not too late, we can pause any ballot and put it to both amongst doctors. And no doctor really wants to go on strike. You say that you might not do it all in one go with that 12.6% up left be in one hit though. Yes, that will still be the first step considering that we are behind by about 29%. Yes. And so what's the sort of timeline for this? I mean, in the press release you said that this ballot would be in the coming weeks. Are we expecting to see that then pretty imminently this side of Christmas? Are we talking in the new year? How imminently are we going to see this ballot be held? It's difficult because I think BMA are also very sort of heavily guiding us. We expect the dates for the ballots to be announced in the next week or two. And then obviously we need to give time. I think we are still guided. We are still under the 1991 trade union act, which means all ballots have to be on paper and by post. So that's going to take time. And so I mean, we've spoken recently about cuts within Monkscare. It's no secret that Monkscare's finances have been the leading story we've had here at Monks Radio for a couple of weeks now as well. We've seen the Health Minister resign. This is the hot topic of the moment. Given the fact that those finances are so under a microscope right now, really, are you actually, as the ALMA Medical Society, the BMA, are you actually, realistically, are we going to see that this financial year? We sincerely hope so. In fact, currently the vacancy rates among staff is running around 20%, which is not healthy for anybody. And for new doctors to attract new doctors, we have to have a pay scales at least on par with the UK. In fact, it used to be better, particularly with specialty doctors and what used to be called uni doctors and now called resident doctors. We are well behind the UK, as you know, NHS England recently settled with resident doctors for 22% over two years. And we want to be able to attract the brightest and the best to want to come and settle here. And it's not just a short term gain we are looking for. We are looking for people who would come here, settle here, make Isle of Man their home. Do you think realistically, though, this would have been better targeted in that new financial year? Because, I mean, Mank's care have been quite forthcoming in saying that they're making all these savings, they're still going to be overspending. Where do you expect them to find this money from? I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but I'll say it anyway. I know for a fact that the wage bill is underspent by about two million. Okay. If there is a will, there will be a way. Okay. You've made this announcement now. Have you had any initial response from doctors on the island of which way they could go? Yes. In fact, I've had doctors badgering me asking, when is it coming, when is it coming? Because we previously did an online survey, which is obviously advisory. It's not a binding ballot. And 78% of the doctors said they will take initial action. You know, I mean, I suppose this won't come as a shock to listeners and the wider public because we, equally in the last couple of weeks, have seen the culture of Kerberometer as well be published. There's some dissatisfaction with doctors and with healthcare professionals within Mank's care. What do you think that the message sends to the public then? I mean, the state of healthcare here. Right. We're hoping that a decent pair race, at least on par with other UK jurisdictions, will start us in the path of restoring the culture of care for Mank's doctors. And it's a step that was unprecedented and not really something any of us want to take. But I think we've been pushed to this as the only option left. But I'm an eternal optimist. I'm hoping even now Mank's care will come up with a credible offer that we can actually pause this process and put it to our membership. And we said earlier, you're asking for 12.6% and that's that initial phase, sort of trying to equal this 29%. Will it be 12.6% or nothing? If they come up with anything close to NHS England, NHS Northern Ireland and NHS Scotland settlements, definitely put it to the membership. It's ultimately up to them. It's just that this is something that we're entering very, very reluctantly. We don't really want to get here. And we do know that there is money available as underspent and which could be used. Thank you for making it to the end of the Mank's Radio Newscast. You are obviously someone with exquisite taste. May I politely suggest you might want to subscribe to this and a wide range of Mank's Radio podcasts at your favourite podcast provider. So our best bits will magically appear on your smartphone. Thank you. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]
