Consultants set to vote on £20,000 pay deal to end strikes

Consultants are set to vote on a fresh pay deal that could bring an end to strikes after unions reached an agreement with the Government.

The offer will see the overhaul of senior doctors’ contracts and pay scales, meaning some consultants will receive a pay rise of almost 13 per cent on their six-figure salaries, increasing their pay by up to £20,000 since the start of the year.

The Government has agreed to increase consultants’ overall pay pot by 4.95 per cent, but the amount each consultant receives will differ depending on their seniority.

While some will receive no pay rise, others will get 12.8 per cent. The number of different pay points will decrease from 19 to 14 in an effort to provide greater reward for progression. Officials said it would “modernise” the pay structure and “reduce time it takes to get to the top”.

The deal will increase the most junior consultants’ pay to £99,532 per year, up £11,000 on the start of the year when including the six per cent pay rise already given. The offer does not include any recommendations made for pay rises by the independent pay review body for 2024-25.

Similarly, the most experienced and senior consultants will get a pay rise that takes their total salaries to just shy of £132,000, up by between £12,800 and £19,400 on the start of the year and bringing more of them in line with the top pay point.

Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, said it was “a fair deal for consultants who will benefit from major contractual reform”.

The British Medical Association (BMA) will put the offer to its members to vote, with results not expected until January.

The contractual reform also includes enhancements for parental leave and the BMA has agreed to end its use of rate cards, which have been used to charge hospitals thousands of pounds to cover shifts, including during strike action. The extra pay, if the offer is accepted, will be paid in April 2024 but backdated to January.

Mr Sunak said: “Ending damaging strike action in the NHS is vitally important if we want to continue making progress towards cutting waiting lists while making sure patients get the care they deserve.

“This is a fair deal for consultants, who will benefit from major reform to their contract, it is fair for taxpayers because it will not risk our ongoing work to tackle inflation and, most importantly, it is a good deal for patients to see the end of consultant industrial action.”

The agreement comes just two weeks after Victoria Atkins became the new Health Secretary, although the talks initially resumed in October under Steve Barclay, her predecessor.

Ms Atkins said: “I hugely value the work of NHS consultants, and am pleased that we have been able to make this fair and reasonable offer after weeks of constructive negotiations.

“If accepted, it will modernise pay structures, directly addressing gender pay issues in the NHS. It will also enhance consultants’ parental leave options. Putting an end to this strike action will support our efforts to bring down waiting lists and offer patients the highest quality care.”

Consultants last went on strike at the start of October, joining junior doctors on the picket line for three days.

NHS leaders had voiced concerns about the harm joint strike action was causing to patients, particularly those requiring cancer and maternity care not considered “life-threatening”.

Heading into winter the prospects of further strike action had been a major worry for leaders across the health service, with more than 1.2 million appointments officially cancelled over 50 strike days.

Both sets of doctors agreed to return to the negotiating table with the Government following those strikes and had not announced any further action, but no deal has been agreed with junior doctors yet.

Sir Julian Hartley, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “This development is a vital step towards the Government and unions resolving the industrial dispute with consultants in the NHS.

“Trust leaders will be hugely relieved that consultants won’t be striking over Christmas, given that demand for care is always higher in winter. But we’re not out of the woods yet. The deal needs to be put to a vote by union members, and we won’t know the result until January.”