Senior doctors and consultants across NHS Scotland have accepted a 10.5% basic pay increase backdated to 1 April following negotiations.
As part of the deal, which is worth £124.9 million, the doctors will earn between £10,000 and £13,500 more each year.
A total of £5.7 million has also been invested in uprating the discretionary points system, a financial award programme that rewards excellence in service delivery, for the first time since 2009. This will uplift the value of each discretionary point by 12.3% and make the total investment to the equivalent of an 11% rise.
The offer was put to doctors in late September. A total of 70.9% took part in the ballot, with 95.8% voting in favour of the deal.
Dr Alan Robertson, chair of BMA Scotland’s consultant committee, said: “Overall, it is our view, and the vote indicates this is shared across the profession, that this year’s pay uplift is an important first step in addressing consultant pay erosion. It will help maintain Scotland as an attractive place for consultants to work, improve retention and, therefore, benefit the NHS and patients whose care suffers as workforce vacancies go unaddressed.
“However, there is much more to do and build upon from here. We still have ground to make up to restore pay to levels of the past and make up what we have lost. Pension taxes continue to be an issue and while this pay award helps, higher income tax rates here do impact on the competitiveness of our jobs and of the Scottish NHS compared to the rest of the UK. So, we must keep pushing to make sure working as a consultant in Scotland is as attractive as possible, and that this pay offer is not a one-off, but more an indication of a trend.”
Health secretary Neil Gray added: “I am very pleased that the consultants have voted to accept our pay offer. This will ensure that our consultant workforce feel valued, supported and fairly rewarded. This will bring Scotland back into line with recent pay deals in other parts of the UK, ensuring our NHS remains competitive when recruiting and retaining consultants. They are a critical part of NHS Scotland’s workforce and we are committed to supporting them.”
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