NHS bosses have struck back at consultants’ demands to increase their basic pay at least threefold while junior doctors are on strike. Consultants who have covered for doctors during the repeated walkouts earn an average £42-£57 per hour. The British Medical Association (BMA) now advises its members to demand £158 per hour for day shifts and £262 for night shifts.
Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said that while health executives sympathise with doctors’ plight, this is being “eroded” by unilateral demands for higher pay.
He said that NHS executives were not consulted about the rates and that doctors should tackle pay disputes with the Government instead of targeting employers.
“If their dispute is with the Government with regards to both pay and pensions, it seems unreasonable to act without first seeking any kind of agreement with employers,” he added.
During strikes, the BMA has advised doctors to ask for £158 an hour for day shifts, £210 for evening shifts and £262 for overnight shifts.
According to the BMA, the pay rates should be used by any consultant who is asked to work outside of their usual specialty, as well as by emergency care consultants who are asked to work extra shifts or fill roles normally performed by junior doctors.
Around 40 percent of the medical workforce is classified as junior doctors, with two-thirds believed to be BMA members. They will be asked to walk out in their pay dispute between 6 am on March 13 and 6 am on March 16 across both planned and emergency care.
Junior doctors are demanding pay increases to make up for 26 percent pay cuts since 2008.
In a recent ballot, nearly 40,000 junior doctors voted to take industrial action, and hospital trusts and employers have now been notified that the 72-hour walkout will take place.
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