The British Medical Association (BMA) has called for a minimum 1% uplift in doctor’s pay in its submission to the Doctors and Dentists Review Body (DDRB).
The BMA claims doctor’s pay levels have been “seriously eroded” and the gap with comparator professions has “widened significantly”.
“In recent years, doctors have accepted that they need to play a part in dealing with the economic downturn but successive, ongoing pay freezes are now beginning to take their toll with morale plummeting across all groups of doctors across the NHS,” said Dr Mark Porter, Chair of the BMA Council.
“There is a growing fear that medical students and doctors are being deterred from seeking a career in academic medicine because of the continuing pay gap with NHS work.
“It is vital that the DDRB recognises that we need a fair approach to pay in the years ahead that recognises the enormous pressure that doctors are operating under.”
He also said GPs are being “squeezed by a financial straitjacket of falling pay and rising staff costs”.
As well as a minimum of a 1% uplift in all doctor’s pay, the BMA has recommended the formula used by the DDRB for calculating GP pay uplifts needs to be revised in light of evidence that gross and net GP earnings have failed to keep pace with inflation and rising staff costs.
Last week, NHS employers said a freeze in NHS pay will help organisations “maintain the quality of NHS patient care, tackle unprecedented savings challenge and minimise job losses” and as such recommended a third year pay freeze for doctors to the DDRB.
