SENIOR doctor strikes are over after they voted to accept ministers’ pay deal.
The new contract will see NHS consultants pay start at £99,000 rather than £94,000 and top out at £132,000 instead of £126,000.
Some 83 per cent of British Medical Association medics voted in favour of the offer, which will be applied in the coming months and backdated to March.
Dr Vishal Sharma, BMA consultants committee chair, said: “We’ve reached this point not just through our tough negotiations with the Government, but thanks to the resolve of consultants.
“We took the difficult decision to strike, and did so safely and effectively, on multiple occasions, sending a clear message that they would not back down.
“But the fight is not yet over.
“Consultants have shown they are not afraid to act when they need to, and ministers, present or future, should be warned that we expect to be treated fairly.”
It leaves junior doctors and specialist doctors as the only medics still embroiled in a pay row with Whitehall.
Last month, they voted to drag out strike misery until at least September 19 unless they are given a “credible offer on pay”.
Nearly 1.5million NHS appointments have been delayed since strikes first began last year.
The walkouts are expected to cost the health service an estimated £3billion.
Reacting to the consultants’ deal being accepted, Sir Julian Hartley, of NHS Providers, said: “This is welcome news for trust leaders.
“We aren’t out of the woods yet, however, with junior doctors having voted for more strikes and industrial action while other specialty and specialist doctors have rejected a government pay offer.
“Hugely disruptive and costly strikes in the NHS can’t become ‘business as usual’. Remaining concerns must be resolved. Industrial action takes a toll on patients, staff and stretched services.
“We urge politicians and unions to find a way to end all disputes.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “The end of consultant strike action in the NHS is excellent news for patients.
This is a fair deal for consultants, patients, and taxpayers
Victoria Atkins
“It will mean we can continue making progress towards our goal of cutting the waiting lists, which have now fallen for the fourth month in a row.
“Consultants perform a vital role at the heart of the NHS – I’m pleased they’ve accepted this deal, which is fair for them and fair for the taxpayer.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins said: “I hugely value the work of NHS consultants and I am pleased that, after weeks of negotiations, they have accepted this fair and reasonable offer, putting an end to the threat of further strike action.
“Consultants will now be able to focus on providing the highest quality care for patients and we can consolidate our progress on waiting lists – which have fallen for the past four months.
“This deal directly addresses gender pay issues in the NHS and enhances consultants’ parental leave options – representing a fair deal for consultants, patients, and taxpayers.”
NHS consultants are being urged to accept a new pay offer to end strikes.
Under the latest deal, consultants’ pay would start at £99,000 rather than £94,000 and top out at £132,000 rather than £126,000.
They rejected a previous offer in a vote split 51 to 49 per cent.
The new deal includes a rise from £105,000 offered in the previous one to £108,000 a year for those in the fourth to seventh years of consultant work.
It also further loosens the Government’s grip on the yearly salary review.
The British Medical Association and Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association recommend their members accept it.
Dr Vishal Sharma, of the BMA, said: “We now feel we’ve made enough progress in our talks with the Government.
“We recommend members vote to accept the offer and end the current pay dispute and prevent industrial action.”
Consultants went on strike four times and for a total of ten days last year.
BMA junior doctors are still on the warpath as they are midway through a vote to continue striking for another six months.
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.”
HOSPITALS hope to lure back recently retired consultants to help clear waiting list backlogs.
The NHS today launches a one-year trial of an online system — allowing some to do outpatient appointments via video calls from home.
This will free staff for other tasks and allow targeted help to hospitals most in need.
Returnees could also help to train more junior doctors.
NHS elective care director Stella Vig said: “Many want to be able to keep giving back to the health service once they have retired, but in a more flexible way.”
Returnees will face standard hiring processes.
Health Minister Andrew Stephenson said: “Returning consultants will bring invaluable experience and knowledge.”
Latest figures show nearly 6.4million people in England were awaiting treatment in November.
If the NHS Emeritus trial succeeds it could be rolled out to more areas of medicine and kept beyond the one-year trial period.
Bosses estimate 1,000 consultants retire every year meaning there could be thousands who still have the licence and registration to allow them to work again.
All returning doctors would have to go through standard hiring processes before working.
Dr Sarah Clarke, president of the Royal College of Physicians, added: “The NHS is facing unprecedented demands so paving a way for our recently retired doctors to contribute their skills again is very welcome.
“Almost 60% of physicians would delay retirement if they could work flexibly or reduce their hours, showing that flexible working would greatly improve staff retention.”