Strike action looms at Royal College of General Practitioners

Non-medical staff begin voting for industrial action over pay

More than 100 workers responsible for the day-to-day running of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) are being balloted for industrial action over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Wednesday).

The workers have rejected a seven per cent offer, which has not increased except for an additional £400 one off payment, despite several rounds of negotiations, including at the conciliation service Acas.

This is despite the RCGP finishing the financial year £1.4 million ahead of budget. The workers are angry at not being compensated for covering staffing shortages and implementing efficiency savings.

The seven per cent pay offer is a real terms pay cut, when the real rate of inflation, RPI, currently stands at 10.7 per cent. This is the second sizeable real terms pay cut in a row that the workers have been asked to accept. In 2022, the pay rise was 3.5 per cent when inflation was 11.1 per cent.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “These workers have bent over backwards to cover staffing shortfalls and deliver excellent financial results for the Royal College of General Practitioners. The college’s motto translates to ‘compassion with knowledge’. Well, it should know enough to realise these workers are struggling with rising bills and treat them properly. Unite’s members at the college will receive their union’s unwavering support.”

The ballot for strike action will close on 29 August. The RCGP is the professional membership body for GPs in the UK and overseas. The workers provide services to GPs who are members of the RCGP in areas such as education, policy, research, exams, events planning and committee facilitation.

Unite regional officer Matt Freeman said: “The RCGP has enough reserves to give these workers a proper pay rise that reflects their hard work and the cost of living crisis. It needs to come back with an offer our members can accept.”