WHAT IS THE DISPUTE ABOUT?
Pay - or more specifically, "pay restoration".
BMA Scotland wants to see junior doctors' salaries returned to 2008 levels, before it was eroded by years of austerity and sub-inflation rises.
The trade union argues that junior doctors in Scotland today are earning 23.5 per cent less in real terms than they were 15 years ago, based on retail price inflation (RPI).
They say they are not seeking a pay rise, but a pay "correction".
Critics argue that the use of RPI overinflates the problem.
The Office for National Statistics, for example, discourages the use of RPI, describing it as "a very poor measure of general inflation, at times greatly overestimating and at other times underestimating changes in prices".
However, even using the Consumer Price Index instead (CPI) still produces a discrepancy of around 14% compared to 2008, meaning that junior doctors are right to say they are worse off now than in the past.
They have also experienced a much steeper fall in real-terms pay compared, for example, to nurses and to the average for UK workers across all sectors.
WHO ARE JUNIOR DOCTORS?
There is a common misconception that "junior doctors" means graduates who are just out of medical school and in their initial years of foundation training (known as FY1s and FY2s).
In fact, junior doctors account for 44% of NHS Scotland's medical workforce. They are better understood as "doctors in training", who have not yet qualified as Specialist and Associate Specialist (SAS) doctors, or consultants.
Some medics will remain as junior doctors for 10 years or more - for example if they take maternity leave, or depending on the availability of training posts needed to advance up the career ladder.
Junior doctors can be based in hospitals and in GP surgeries.
HOW MUCH ARE JUNIOR DOCTORS PAID?
In Scotland, the minimum starting salary for a junior doctor in 2022/23 was £29,036.
The maximum - for a registrar at the top of their specialty - was £57,349.
This is based on doctors who qualified in medicine under the 2016 contract.
Junior doctors in Scotland received an uplift of 4.5% in 2022/23, compared to an average of 7.5% for Agenda for Change NHS staff.
This compares to an uplift of 2% in England, where junior doctors are on a separate contract.
WHEN WILL THE STRIKE HAPPEN?
Junior doctors in Scotland have voted in favour of a 72-hour walkout.
By law, they have to give NHS employers' at least seven days' notice.
It is anticipated that BMA leaders will seek emergency talks with the Scottish Government as a last ditch attempt to agree a new pay settlement, which means that strikes are more likely to be scheduled for after May 19.
WHAT WILL THE IMPACT BE ON THE NHS?
This is the first time in the history of the NHS in Scotland that doctors have walked out en masse over pay, so the disruption will be unprecedented.
Elective care - planned operations and outpatient appointments - will be most affected, with procedures and clinics postponed.
Junior doctors argue that action over pay is necessary to prevent a worse situation in future if the NHS is unable to retain the doctors it needs, with many considering alternative careers or jobs overseas.
WHAT DOES THE GOVERNMENT SAY?
To date, no formal pay talks have taken place between ministers and BMA Scotland representatives on improving the 2022/23 award, with negotiations underway for 2023/24.
However, the Scottish Government has said the BMA's pay restoration demand is "simply unaffordable" unless cuts were made to the NHS and other public services.
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OTHER PARTS OF THE UK?
Junior doctors in England have already gone on strike, including a 72-hour walkout in March which saw more than 175,000 operations and appointments rescheduled, and a 96-hour walkout in April which saw a further 200,000 patients affected by cancellations.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here