NHS doctors back new contract
Senior hospital doctors in England have approved a new pay deal, the British Medical Association has announced.
The latest deal, backed by 60 per cent of doctors, involves 21,000 consultants and 8,000 specialist registrars.
Today’s decision paves the way for major changes to the way consultants work.
The vote follows lengthy negotiations between the BMA and the Department of Health and the new contract specifies that most consultants will no longer have to work evenings and weekends and will be paid for all the hours they put in.
In October 2002, hospital doctors in England voted by 2-1 against a proposed new contract that would have given them an average 15 per cent pay rise in return for making evenings and weekends part of their core working week.
Former health secretary Alan Milburn refused to restart discussions with the BMA but negotiations were restarted by his replacement Dr John Reid after he quit the Cabinet in June, finally reaching an agreement in July.
Doctors in the rest of the UK have been offered a slightly different contract.
Under the new terms, consultants will receive pay rises of between nine and 24 per cent and will receive extra pay for work carried out during evenings and weekends. Doctors will also have to work additional hours for the NHS before they can carry out private work for the first time.
Simon Eccles, chairman of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, welcomed the decision, saying: “The provisions for part-time working are excellent, there will be no discrimination against newly qualified consultants, and no compunction to do routine work at evenings and weekends, even in specialties like A&E.”
A ‘no’ vote in today’s ballot could have seen consultants go on strike for the first time in 30 years.
