Public support BMA claim for 5% pay rise
Consultants with an NHS appointment deserve a 5% pay rise from April, according to their leading representative at the BMA.
His comments came as more than 60% of the public told a survey they believed doctors should get a pay rise in recognition of the risks they have faced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nearly three-quarters of the 2,100 people surveyed for the association by BritainThinks believed they should get a rise of 3% or more.
Dr Rob Harwood, BMA consultants leader
Dr Rob Harwood, the chairman of the BMA Consultants Committee, said for the Government to suggest a 1% pay rise, after years of underpay and given consultants’ extraordinary efforts throughout this pandemic, was nothing more than ‘insulting’.
‘We believe that 5% is a fair pay rise for hospital consultants. Ministers need to listen to the voices of doctors and the public and show them just how much they are valued by rewarding consultants with the fair pay that they most definitely deserve.’
A BMA campaign launched this week – ‘Fairness for the Frontline’ – demands a fair pay rise for tens of thousands of the most highly skilled hospital doctors.
Dr Harwood added: ‘With the NHS facing the largest backlog of care in its history and the demands of Covid still very much a daily reality, the pressures on consultants have not gone away and are not going to go away for the foreseeable future – it is only right that NHS staff, including highly experienced doctors, are rewarded for their efforts with fair pay.’