Offer of 2% pay rise for consultants dismissed as insulting
Income pressures on independent practitioner consultants with NHS work is set to intensify under Government plans for the 2022-23 pay round.
Seniors have been dismayed to find Government evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) suggests a far below-inflation 2% pay increase for consultants in England this year.
One consultants’ leader described the suggestion as ‘an insult’.
Dr Vishal Sharma
Dr Vishal Sharma, BMA consultants committee chairman, called it a slap in the face after the two years doctors had endured, in many cases putting their lives on the line to keep people safe during the pandemic.
He said: ‘The 3% award last year left consultants extremely disappointed, so for the Government to now suggest an even lower figure that once again fails to address years of pay erosion will be met with anger and absolute dismay.’
Dr Sharma urged ministers to urgently change course and warned that more of the country’s most experienced clinicians would be forced to retire or reduce their hours. Senior doctors were already being driven away due to punitive pension tax rules, he said.
The Government’s evidence this year again highlighted how flawed the DDRB process was, with ministers intervening in a supposedly independent body’s decision-making.
Dr Sharma added: ‘This is precisely why the BMA’s consultants committee has disengaged from the process and not submitted evidence for consultants in England this year.
‘In making its recommendations later this year, the DDRB must therefore resist this blatant manipulation from the Government. A sub-inflation pay recommendation would be the final straw in breaking any pretence of its independence or credibility.’