Consultants in Scotland offered 10.5% pay uplift

The BMA’s Scottish consultants committee (SCC) is recommending that members accept a 10.5 per cent basic pay uplift.

The offer from the Scottish Government will be put to a referendum. It also includes an investment of £5.7 million into the discretionary points system, taking the package to the equivalent of an 11 per cent overall rise.

SCC chair Alan Robertson said the offer ‘moves consultant pay in the right direction’ and that it could be built on. But he also said long-term investment was needed to counteract years of pay erosion and to put the NHS in Scotland on a sustainable footing.

He said the offer would help make Scotland a competitive place to work again for consultants – after pay and conditions had fallen behind those in other parts of the UK.

‘While comparisons can be difficult due to slightly different pay structures, at the very least this an offer which returns consultant pay in Scotland to being comparable with that across the UK – and at many stages of a consultant’s career it will be better than in England,’ he said.

‘Scottish Government figures put consultant vacancies at some 7.1 per cent, but we know from Freedom of Information requests to health boards these don't count long-term vacancies which gives a figure roughly double that, meaning hundreds of posts lying empty, making any attempt to tackle ever-lengthening waiting lists futile.

‘That’s why this investment in the consultant workforce could not come soon enough. There is still much work to be done given the many years that our pay has been eroded and the impact of higher taxation in Scotland. However the offer is one we believe moves consultant pay in Scotland in the right direction and can be built upon. Long term, that investment is the only way that we can ever hope to put our NHS on a more sustainable footing, for the benefit of both doctors and patients.’

Health secretary Neil Gray said the overall offer –  a total £124.9 million investment – would ensure that the consultant workforce in Scotland felt valued, supported and fairly rewarded.

‘This will bring Scotland back into line with recent pay deals in other parts of the UK, ensuring our NHS remains competitive when recruiting and retaining consultants,' he said.

‘I wish to thank our consultants for their dedication and patience. They are a critical part of NHS Scotland’s workforce and we are committed to supporting them.

‘I hope the unions will accept our offer.’

The offer would be worth an additional £11,015 per year to consultants on pay point 3 and £13,528 to those on point 19, taking pay at the top of the scale to £142,369. It will be backdated to 1 April 2024.

BMA Scotland expects the referendum to open in mid-October and run for three weeks, meaning a final result should be announced in early November.