Doctors 'angry' at extra work pay cuts

The British Medical Association says four NHS trusts will cut pay rates for extra work from October.

Doctors have railed against cuts to pay rates for additional work, due to come into force next month at four NHS trusts.

The British Medical Association (BMA) union, which represents doctors in the UK, said the new rates were "unacceptable" and amounted to reductions in pay across all grades of doctors and consultants.

The decision was taken without "meaningful consultation or negotiation," they said.

The four trusts involved, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust and The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said they were committed to ensuring fair arrangements for medical staff working temporary clinical shifts.

Hundreds of doctors met on Wednesday evening, according to the union, to express anger and frustration at the decision to impose the new pay rates.

Doctors had still not been informed of plans to change the rates of pay, the union added.

'Anger and frustration'

They said many would refuse extra work at the reduced rates, which they believed could have a significant impact on patient care.

Additional work carried out by doctors was essential to maintain safe staffing levels and patient care across the NHS, they said.

"In A&E, we already work with rota gaps that leave us dangerously short," said one resident doctor working at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust.

They said on a recent night shift, a quarter of their registrar and senior house officer rotas were left unfilled.

"To then cut rates further, and to impose a flat rate that fails to recognise the additional sacrifice of evenings, nights and weekends, will only further disincentivise doctors from covering these essential shifts," they added.

Dr Rinesh Parmar, chair of the BMA West Midlands regional consultants committee said there was "a clear sense of anger" among doctors.

"We urge the trusts to urgently withdraw this imposition to avoid damaging morale beyond repair and to avoid any potential disruption to patient care."

We recognise the importance of this issue to our workforce and will be engaging further with our local negotiating committees over the coming weeks to better understand the concerns of their members.

Jonathan Odum, Medical Director for the Black Country Provider Collaborative said: "Our priority is the responsible use of public funds while ensuring high-quality patient care and supporting flexible staffing where it is most needed.

"We are writing to the BMA to indicate our intention to hold a consultation on this matter, as such no decision has yet been made to enact any changes to the bank shift rates for our medical workforce."