There will be ‘no additional funding’ for pay increases for doctors in the next financial year, the health secretary has told the independent pay review body.
Wes Streeting wrote to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) earlier this week to formally commence the annual pay review.
He asked the new chair of the DDRB Mark Hoble to start the process earlier than usual to allow the review body ‘to give due consideration to the relevant evidence’ and to return to ‘more timely annual pay processes’.
Last year, the DDRB was also asked to deliver its recommendation ‘at the earliest point’ to help speed up pay awards for the current financial year. This time around, the health secretary wants the decision even earlier.
Mr Streeting said: ‘I would be grateful if you could support an earlier pay announcement by submitting your report at the earliest point that allows you to give due consideration to the relevant evidence.
‘I recognise that changing the timeline from recent years will present challenges for you, but I am sure you also share the government’s belief in the importance of returning to more timely annual pay processes.
‘To enable you to submit your report earlier, our department will aim to co-operate with all your deadlines and bring the evidence process forward.’
But, setting the parameters for the review, he told DDRB that all pay must be funded from departmental budgets and there will be ‘no additional funding available for pay settlements’.
He said: ‘As the Spending Review confirmed, all pay must be funded from departmental budgets and there will be no additional funding available for pay settlements.
‘My department’s evidence will set out the funds available to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) for 2026 to 2027, following the Spending Review last month, as well as the recruitment and retention context alongside, earnings data and our plan for building an NHS fit for the future.’
Mr Streeting’s letter to the DDRB also said that the Government is ‘taking steps’ to address the ‘legitimate’ concerns that doctors have raised about their working conditions.
‘As a first step for resident doctors, over the next three years we will create 1,000 new training posts and will prioritise UK medical graduates,’ he added.
The DDRB remit covers the whole of the United Kingdom and it is for each administration to make its own decisions on its approach to this year’s pay round and to communicate this to the DDRB directly.
The DDRB was asked to make a recommendation on GP partner pay for the first time in five years for 2024/25, noting the ‘significant’ cost increases they had faced over the last few years, and partners have since been included in the remit.
For 2025/26 the Government committed to ‘uplifting the pay element of the GP contract’ by 4% following DDRB recommendations, uplifting the minimum and maximum of the pay range for salaried GPs by 4% and uplifting the GP educators pay scale by 4% ‘all on a consolidated basis’.
A version of this article was first published by our sister title Pulse
