BMA members could triple their pay covering doctors' strikes

Times

13 hours ago

Doctors who are members of the British Medical Association will be able to triple their salary by covering for junior colleagues during industrial action, NHS leaders have said.
Up to 50,000 resident doctors, who were previously known as junior doctors, are poised to begin a five-day walkout from 7am on Friday, which is expected to lead to the cancellation of 100,000 appointments.
If the walkout goes ahead, senior colleagues will fill in for them and be able to request premium rates of pay. In previous strikes consultants have been paid as much as £3,000 to cover a single 12-and-a-half-hour night shift.
Matthew Taylor, the head of the NHS Confederation, which represents hospitals, said that the strikes would increase the risk of 'severe harm' to patients.
He said: 'It is hard for the public to understand when, in terms of the BMA, some members are going on strike, while others — consultants — are asking for three times more than their usual salary in order to cover for that strike action.
'I do worry that public sympathy will be stretched. NHS trade unions have tended to have high levels of support when they take action. I think the indications are that the public do not feel the same level of sympathy. Particular elements of this, like those providing cover, being able to ask for a lot more money, have an impact on trust.'
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, is expected to hold talks with the BMA on Tuesday, and there are hopes in the government of a breakthrough. They last met on Thursday with both sides describing the discussions as constructive.
• Five deaths linked to disruption from last junior doctors' strikes
Streeting has made clear that he 'cannot move' on headline pay for resident doctors, who are pushing for a 29 per cent pay rise. However, several other issues are up for negotiation, including the possibility of writing off student loans if medical graduates keep working in the NHS for a certain number of years.
Younger doctors can graduate from five years of medical school with £100,000 in debt, which could be reduced over time under a 'loan forgiveness' scheme.
Other possible reforms include cutting doctors' pensions to give them 'higher pay today', subsidising fees for exams and speeding up career progression so they earn more at a younger age.
Taylor said that the strikes could mean 100,000 operations being cancelled. 'Some people who have been waiting many months in pain are going to have to wait longer because consultants who would have been holding clinics or doing operations will instead need to be on wards or in A&E,' he said.
• NHS put up with harm of last strikes, says boss — but not any more
He said that the increased pressure on hospitals meant increased risk for patients. 'When appointments don't take place, when there is more pressure on hospitals, there is a risk of severe harm to people because services are overstretched.'
He also said that there were financial consequences. 'If already hard-pressed [hospital] trusts are not able to undertake activity they don't get the money for that activity,' he said.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research, an economic think tank, has suggested that the industrial action could cost Britain £64 million.
Dr Tom Dolphin, chairman of the BMA council, said: 'Senior doctors keep urgent services running safely during strikes by resident doctors, but this is work over and above their regular contracted work. The rates of pay for all extra-contractual work are not unique to covering strike days, and year-round trusts are having to pay overtime rates and expensive agency fees to cover rota gaps, not just on strike days.
'This is due to repeated failures by governments to fix the staffing crisis in the NHS.'
Dolphin added: 'The BMA firmly believes that any harm arising from failure to plan appropriately for reduced staffing levels on strike days is the responsibility of senior directors at a hospital.'
The industrial action poses a significant threat to Sir Keir Starmer's pledge to cut NHS waiting lists. Internal NHS modelling already suggests that the government is unlikely to hit the target by the end of this parliament.
A YouGov survey for The Times has found that 36 per cent of the public supported further industrial action by junior doctors, while 49 per cent opposed it.
When doctors last went on strike, just before last year's general election, YouGov found it was supported by 59 per cent of the public and opposed by 36 per cent.