NHS consultants are set to go back on strike after rejecting a pay offer from the government and demanding more cash.
A deal that would have seen their starting salaries surge to £100,000 was shot down this week after a five-week members’ vote.
Some of the stubborn docs would have bagged an extra £19,000 per year if they had said yes.
The breakdown puts consultants back in the fray with junior doctors, who are still rowing with ministers over pay.
Nurses, paramedics and support staff all settled on a pay rise last year.
The agreement sought to reform the pay structure for senior doctors, known as consultants, reducing the number of pay brackets and the time it takes to reach the top and making a clearer link between pay progression and experience.
The doctors, also known as consultants, voted 51.1 per cent against the pay offer, the British Medical Association (BMA) said.
Although consultants rejected the offer, they have not yet called for an immediate resumption of strikes.
Instead, the BMA is urging ministers to reopen talks in order to end the dispute.
The vote has shown that consultants do not feel the current offer goes far enough.
Dr Vishal Sharma
“The vote has shown that consultants do not feel the current offer goes far enough to end the current dispute and offer a long-term solution to the recruitment and retention crisis for senior doctors,” BMA consultants committee chair Vishal Sharma said.
“It backs up conversations we’ve had with colleagues in recent weeks, who felt the changes were insufficient and did not give them confidence that pay erosion would be addressed over the coming years.
“In addition, they were concerned about the fairness of the offer and how it impacted different groups of doctors.
“There were also clear concerns about changes to professional development time, and time dedicated to teaching and research.
“However, with the result so close, the consultants committee is giving the Government a chance to improve the offer.
“In the coming days we will be further engaging with consultants, and seeking talks with Government to explore whether the concerns expressed by our members during the referendum process can be addressed.”
“I want to emphasise that we want to get around the table and speak to the Government,” Dr Simon Walsh told Sky News.
He added: “The offer is not fairly spread across the consultants, some don’t get any uplift.
“The long term pay erosion the consultants have experienced of 35 per cent of their pay.”
How much do consultants earn?
They usually earn between £88,000 and £119,000 per year — equal to £340 to £460 per day.
Many also earn extra cash from bonuses, overtime and private work.
The BMA says that since 2008-09, the take-home pay of consultants in England has been cut by 35 per cent in real terms, and wants to see a pay increase above inflation.
Dr Vishal Sharma, chairman of the BMA’s consultants committee, said: “Consultants’ pay has been cut more than every other group across the public sector.”
The Department of Health states the average basic pay for consultants is £97,900 – but doctors can also boost their salaries through overtime and awards.
This takes the average annual salary of a consultant up to £128,000, the Government says.
But according to latest data from NHS Digital, one doctor earned close to £500,000 in 2020, with top-ups.
Consultants’ strikes have been smaller than junior docs’ but are still tough for hospitals because they are needed to supervise nurses and other doctors.
Around 8,500 consultants took part in four walkouts over 10 days between July and October, including four days of joint strikes with junior doctors.
The Government is carefully considering its next steps.
Victoria Atkins
Under the rejected deal the starting salary for a first-year consultant would have increased from £88,000 in 2022 to £99,532.
Top-end pay would have risen from £119,000 to £131,964 – with many also earning extra from bonuses, overtime and private work.
Sir Julian Hartley, of NHS Providers, said: “NHS trust leaders will feel dismayed by this.
“All parties need to ensure that hard won progress is not lost.
“The spectre of further strike action continues to loom large over the health service should talks fail.
“Politicians and unions must find a way to end all disputes for the sake of patients.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins said: “I hugely value the work of NHS consultants and I am disappointed that after weeks of constructive negotiations the BMA has, by the narrowest of margins, rejected this fair and reasonable offer.
“I want to build on our progress on waiting lists and for us all to be able to focus our efforts on offering patients the highest quality care.
“The Government is therefore carefully considering next steps.
“We already know the kind of progress our NHS staff can make in the absence of strikes – waiting lists fell by more than 95,000 in November, the first month without industrial action for over a year and the biggest decrease since December 2010 outside of the pandemic.”
