(Reuters) -The British Medical Association (BMA), which represents about 45,000 junior doctors in England, said on Monday its members were willing to cancel strikes if the government presented them with a suitable pay offer.
We have always been willing to continue talking," Vivek Trivedi, co-chair of the BMA Junior Doctors Committee, said in a statement, adding that they will call strikes off if Prime Minister Rishi Sunak makes a credible offer.
Separately, BMA's consultants committee also called on the government last month asking for a credible pay offer, to avoid strikes on July 20 and 21.
The consultants committee said it is willing to cancel strikes if a suitable offer is presented.
"We remain willing to talk and are very much prepared to cancel strikes, even at the last minute, should a suitable offer be presented," Vishal Sharma, BMA consultants committee chair, said in a statement in response to a Times interview with British Health Minister Steve Barclay.
Barclay told the Times that the government was willing to give doctors a bigger pay rise and urged consultants to end strikes to resume negotiations.
Tens of thousands of junior doctors have staged walkouts this year to demand wage increases that match inflation, which as has been running into double digits. The government has said such pay rises would only inflame inflation further, pushing up interest rates and mortgages.
The BMA has said the latest pay offer of a 5% increase for 2023/24 was not credible since it was "nowhere near addressing pay erosion over the last 15 years."
The Department of Health and Social Care did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Barclay's interview.