Doctors’ pay: Government recommends below-inflation pay rise, prompting fury from unions

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The UK government has recommended a 2.4% pay rise for doctors in England, below inflation, prompting anger from the British Medical Association. The BMA warned the proposal risks further industrial unrest and disruption, while ministers said a larger award could affect healthcare delivery and would need to be funded from existing budgets.

Ministers risk “further industrial unrest and disruption,” the BMA has warned, after the government recommended a below-inflation 2.4% pay rise for doctors in England.1The government’s recommendation, jointly made by the Department of Health Social Care and NHS England, was made in its evidence to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB).It warned that should the independent pay review board award doctors a higher uplift, “we would need to consider whether and how this could be made affordable from within existing DHSC budgets.”Accepting such an award, it warned, “would inevitably have an impact on healthcare delivery.”Responding to the government’s evidence, BMA council chair Tom Dolphin said it was nonsensical.“It beggars belief that at a time when patients are being treated in hospital corridors and car parks, people are waiting too long for a GP appointment and the government’s pledge to bring down waiting lists is stalling, ministers are saying...