Government response to the 46th report of the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration
Statement from Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock in response to the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration: 46th report.
I am responding on behalf of my Rt Hon friend the Prime Minister to the 46th Report of the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB). The report has been laid before Parliament today (Cm9670). I am grateful to the Chair and members of the DDRB for their report.
I am today announcing pay rises for doctors and dentists working across the NHS.
This is a pay rise that recognises the value and dedication of hardworking doctors and dentists, targeting pay as recommended by the DDRB, and taking into account affordability and the prioritising of patient care.
Supporting the NHS workforce to deliver excellent care is a top priority. Following this one-year pay rise, we want to open up a wider conversation on pay and improvements. This is the start of a process whereby we will seek to agree multi-year deals in return for contract reforms for consultants and GPs. We want to make the NHS the best employer in the world.
In June this year nurses were awarded a multi-year award as part of a pay and contract reform deal and it is only right that pay rises are targeted at the lowest paid workers.
Including the announcement of today’s pay award, from October 2018 a consultant that started in 2013 will have seen a 16.5% increase in their basic pay, rising to a salary of £87,665 from £75,249. Today’s pay award is worth:
- between £1,150 and £1,550 for consultants
- between £1,140 and £2,120 for specialty doctors
- between £1,600 and £2,630 for associate specialists
- between £532 and £924 for junior doctors
- around £1,052 for a salaried GP with a median taxable income of £52,600
GPs face a significant challenge in numbers and we need to recruit large numbers over a short period, meaning any pay rise needs to be balanced against our aim for a growing number of practitioners. The 2018/19 pay award is worth £2,000 per year to a GP contractor with a median taxable income of £100,000.
The government’s response to the DDRB’s recommendations takes account of:
- affordability in 2018/19 in the context of a spending review that budgeted for 1% average basic pay awards
- the importance of prioritising patient care, and the long-term funding settlement, which increases NHS funding by an average 3.4% per year from 2019/20, and which will see the NHS receive £20.5 billion a year in real terms by 2023
- the 3-year contract reform agreement on the Agenda for Change pay contract for one million non-medical staff, which delivered significant reforms as part of 3% pay investment per year, including progression pay reforms that end automatic annual increments
- the case for contract reform for some of the DDRB’s remit groups, in particular for consultants and GPs
The government’s response is as follows.
Consultants
I am committing to negotiations on a multi-year agreement incorporating contract reform for consultants to begin from 2019/20.
From 1 October 2018:
- a 1.5% increase to basic pay
- the value of both national and local clinical excellence awards (CEAs) to be frozen
- 0.5% of pay bill to be targeted on the new system of performance pay to increase the amount available for performance pay awards from 2019/20. Employers will be able to choose to use the 0.25% of funding available in 2018/19 as transitional funding to manage the costs of running the required CEA round this year or to invest it additionally should they choose to do so
Doctors and dentists in training
As agreed in the May 2016 ACAS agreement, we will discuss changes to the pay structure as part of the 2018 review of the contract, re-investing any existing funding freed up as transition costs reduce.
From 1 October 2018:
- a 2% increase in basic pay and the value of the flexible pay premia
- introduction of a flexible pay premium for doctors on training programmes in histopathology of the same value as that currently provided for doctors on training programmes in emergency medicine and psychiatry
Specialty doctors (new grade 2008) and associate specialists (closed grade)
I take note of the DDRB comments about the particular issues of morale in relation to this group that led to their pay recommendation and their observation on the need for a review of the salary structure for these grades as part of a wider review of their role, their career structure and the developmental support available to them. It is intended that this will follow the agreement of reformed arrangements for consultants.
From 1 October 2018:
- increase basic pay by 3%
General dental practitioners
From 1 April 2018 (backdated):
- increase expenses by 3%
From 1 October 2018:
- increase dental income and staff costs by 2%
General medical practitioners
I intend to ask NHS England to take a multi-year approach to the GP contract negotiations with investment in primary care linked to improvements in primary care services.
From 1 April 2018 (backdated):
- add a further 1% to the value of the GP remuneration and practice staff expenses through the GP contract, supplementing the 1% already paid from April 2018 and making a 2% uplift in all. This will enable practices to increase the pay of practice staff
From 1 October 2018:
- the recommended minimum and maximum pay scales for salaried GPs will be uplifted by 2%
- the GP trainer grant and GP appraiser fees will be increased by 3% and we will apply the same approach to clinical educators’ pay; GP and dental educators
From 1 April 2019:
- the potential for up to an additional 1%, on top of the 2% already paid to be added to the baseline, to be paid from 2019/20 conditional on contract reform, through a multi-year agreement from 2019/20. This would be in addition to the funding envelope for the contract negotiation for 2019/20 onwards. This would be reflected in respect of GP remuneration, practice staff expenses and the recommended minimum and maximum pay scales for salaried GPs