Last week we were “awarded” yet another massively disappointing pay uplift. With RPI inflation running at 11.3% according to the latest figures, this 6% uplift amounts to a significant pay cut which will be another kick in the teeth to consultants and SAS doctors working incredibly hard across the country, doing their utmost to keep services running.
It is truly only the goodwill of staff that is keeping the NHS afloat right now – how much is left, we don’t know. But what we do know is that staff are feeling exceptionally under-valued, exhausted and burnt out. Morale is low and there is not much left to give.
This year BMA Scotland called for a significant pay uplift in 2023/24 for all doctors, to not only address the severe risk to real terms pay posed by high inflation, but also to start to restore pay erosion since 2008. This was based on the urgent need to do more to retain doctors at all stages of our careers and take immediate action to tackle the doctor workforce crisis we face.
Our junior doctor colleagues have made inroads – they have fought tirelessly over the past few months, gone through hours of intense negotiations and secured a strong mandate to strike, eventually putting themselves in a position to finally put a 12.4% pay offer out to members with a recommendation to accept.
We now want your feelings on this year’s pay uplift, and the impact it has had on you. Please take a few minutes to fill out this short survey so we can take your views to the Scottish government and push for a commitment to reversing pay erosion going forward.
There is a lot of talk about ‘NHS recovery’ – to address the ever-growing waiting lists and make some steps towards recovery this will require a service properly staffed by consultants. Without a recovery in pay for consultants and SAS doctors then any hope of an NHS recovery would seem unlikely. To achieve this year-on-year pay awards that are significantly above inflation are required – this award singularly fails to deliver on that necessity, and it simply isn’t acceptable.
I’m sure you’re as sick as we are at being told pay rises can only come at the expense of frontline services – but what could be more frontline than the doctors who actually deliver the care the people of Scotland need? After all, at its core, the NHS is its staff.
In last year’s pay survey 88% of you who responded said you were dissatisfied when asked if the DDRB’s recommendation recognised your contribution to the NHS. Given previous experience of negotiations with Government (and the sub-inflationary awards made to higher-banded Agenda for Change staff members) both SCC and SSASC thought it reasonable to give the DDRB one more go at producing a truly independent report. Sadly, from the percentage increase that has been announced this does not appear to be the case. There is also the irony that, as of yet, we have not had sight of this supposedly independent report, with the contents being known to all four governments but not yet being made public for doctors to review.
It is crucial for us as a committee to hear what you think of this award. That is why we urge you to complete the pay survey and please also pass the link onto colleagues – we are keen for as many to respond as possible. We’re aware this is peak holiday season so the survey will open for the next three weeks (closing Monday 31st July 2023).
Sine Steele, deputy chair of SSASC
Alan Robertson, chair of SCC
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