Ire over appeal to curb pay claims
By Douglas Shepherd
Consultants representing the interests of those with NHS jobs have reacted with anger about pay restraint remarks from the Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey.
The BMA seniors’ leader hit back saying: ‘After the two years that we have just experienced, these comments will leave a bitter taste in the mouth for healthcare workers.’
The governor, who has a reported annual pay package of over £575,000, told Sky News that the bank believed some price pressures driving inflation would ‘correct’, but it had to be ensured in the meantime that there was not more inflation pressure domestically.
He added: ‘That would come, for instance, from things like wage bargaining.’
Dr Vishal Sharma
Dr Vishal Sharma, BMA consultants committee chairman, responded that consultants would expect Government to roundly reject ‘this wholly unacceptable suggestion’.
He said: ‘During the pandemic, doctors and all healthcare workers have given their all, battling this deadly virus on the front line, putting their own lives at risk to help others. But the suggestion now is that it would be out of line to ask for a pay increase that reflects these extraordinary efforts and the spiralling cost of living.
‘After years of take-home pay falling for doctors, to be told to accept another real-terms pay cut is completely unpalatable.’