The British Medical Association, Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association and the government have agreed on an improved pay offer for NHS consultants in England after the previous proposal was narrowly rejected.
Following intensive talks between the BMA, HCSA and the government in recent weeks, the new pay offer will now be put to consultant members in a vote. BMA consultant members voted 51.1% against the previous offer in a referendum that closed on 23 January.
Both unions will recommend their members accept the improved offer in electronic ballots closing on 3 April.
Following the rejection of the earlier offer, the BMA engaged with members to listen to their concerns, which informed negotiations with the Department of Health and Social Care.
The offer builds on changes to the consultant pay scale in the original offer and now includes a 2.85% (£3,000) uplift for those who have been consultants between four and seven years. Under the original offer in November 2023, these doctors received no additional uplift on top of the 6% recommended by the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) last summer.
The new offer also includes changes to the DDRB, which the BMA says represents significant progress in returning it to its original purpose and independence.
There will be changes to how it appoints members, and the government will no longer be able to limit its remit with reference to inflation targets. The DDRB will also make its pay recommendations for doctors in the context of long-term trends in the wider labour market and comparator professions, including relevant international comparators.
There are also no longer any changes or limits to the way consultants should spend valuable time for teaching, research and improving services, that were included in the previous offer.
BMA consultants committee chair Dr Vishal Sharma said: “After narrowly rejecting the last offer, consultants raised three key concerns: that there was not enough movement on restoring the DDRB’s impartiality; too many consultants were left with no additional uplift this year; and they were worried at the potential for their protected time for service improvement and research to be curtailed and diverted.
“In our talks with government we now feel we’ve made enough progress on these issues to go back to the membership and recommend they vote to accept the offer, and in doing so end the current pay dispute and prevent further industrial action.
“Ultimately, each consultant will have their own decision to make, but the BMA’s consultants committee believes the offer marks significant progress in reaching our aims of reforming the pay review process and preventing further pay cuts.”
NHS consultants pay
BMA consultants narrowly reject pay offer
Health and social care secretary Victoria Atkins said: “I hugely value the work of NHS consultants and am glad that unions are recommending this revised offer to their members – they clearly recognise the various benefits it offers.
“If accepted, it will modernise pay structures – directly addressing gender pay issues in the NHS – and enhance consultants’ parental leave options.
“It paves the way to ending industrial action by consultants following many weeks of constructive dialogue and represents a good offer for consultants, patients and the taxpayer.”
HCSA president Dr Naru Narayanan said: “After further high-intensity negotiations the HCSA executive feels this package has improved sufficiently to recommend a yes vote to members.
“This is not a simple pay offer, it is a wider package of reforms. HCSA maintains its view that long-term pay erosion must be addressed for all grades of doctor, something this package does not resolve. However, we acknowledge the government’s movement on its original position, including on DDRB reform which is crucial to be able to redress real-terms wage decline in future.”
Sharma added: “This hard-fought-for offer marks a step forward in restoring fairness and if it is accepted, as we hope it will be, it is essential that the pay review process makes recommendations that will further restore consultants’ pay in the coming years, to fix the retention crisis among the consultant workforce – and therefore safeguard medical expertise in the NHS.”
Consultants and SAS doctors in Wales, members of BMA Cymru Wales, announced yesterday that they are walking out for 48 hours from 16 April.
Meanwhile, there is no report of progress in the junior doctors’ pay dispute in England. BMA members are currently voting on whether to extend their strike mandate to September, having walked out for another four days last month.
Junior doctors in Wales walk out for four days at the end of March (25-29 March), while their colleagues in Northern Ireland stage a 24-hour walkout tomorrow (6 March).
The Department of Health and Social Care is currently considering responses to a consultation into minimum service levels in hospitals.
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