NHS consultant pay has fallen behind the likes of lawyers, architects and financial advisers over the last 14 years, with pay hikes for these professions growing at six times the rate of NHS consultants, according to the British Medical Association (BMA).
The doctors’ union analysed a range of publicly available NHS and government data and found the pay of NHS consultants in England “flatlined” at just 14% growth in the 14 years to 2022/23.
Over the same period, the average pay for workers across the UK rose by around 48%.
However those working in professions such as such as law, accountancy, financial services, architecture and engineering enjoyed pay rises of nearly 80% – almost six times that of senior doctors, the BMA added.
Workers in finance and business services roles such as financial services, insurance and pension management have seen the biggest increase in their wages since 2008/09, at 78%, according to the BMA’s analysis of the Office for National Statistics Average Weekly Earnings.
Alongside analysis of NHS Staff Earnings Estimates, the BMA revealed that while professions such as accountants, management consultants, architects and scientific engineers have seen their salaries rise unadjusted for inflation, consultants have seen just a 14% rate of growth, in cash terms.
Private pay concerns
While the BMA’s analysis is limited to just consultants working in the NHS, in March 2022 WPA warned insurers were not paying private consultants enough and this was contributing to a potential capacity crunch as they leave the market.
These concerns were echoed earlier this year at Health & Protection’s inaugural Health Summit, where Federation of Independent Practitioner Organisations (FIPO) chairman Dr Richard Packard warned patients could face increased wait times for private treatment unless insurers can effectively sort out the issue of fees paid out to consultants.
Pay not kept pace with comparable professions
Dr Vishal Sharma, chairman of the BMA Consultants Committee, said: “This dispute is not just about one year’s pay settlement, it is about the reality of 14 years of consultant pay falling behind, about a loss in our pay in real terms of 35% and the broken pay review system that has allowed this to happen.
“There is absolutely no justification for the wages of some of the country’s most senior doctors to not have kept pace with those of comparable professions.
“Last week the prime minister described the pay review body’s 6% pay uplift as a ‘significant pay award, one of the most significant we’ve had in decades,’ and yet our profession languishes so far behind tens of thousands of other workers in terms of our pay and working conditions.
“Is it any wonder that nearly 90% of consultants in England voted in favour of industrial action when we see data like this and when the government refuses to discuss what has happened to our pay over the last 14 years? There can be no clearer demonstration of how broken the process is when the pay review body allowed this to happen.”
Sharma said consultants will take their place on picket lines today because they are “angry” and at “rock bottom,” adding he had written to the health secretary to make it clear that despite the BMA’s constructive engagement with his officials, it was “abundantly clear” that the blockage to reaching an agreement lies firmly with ministers.