It’s probably far too late to say happy new year – but as this is my first blog of the year, and I checked it is still January somehow – I will take this chance to wish you all the best for 2024.
I really hope that even though it was a while ago, you managed to enjoy a break over the festive period.
You will probably have seen in the news some coverage of the SAS IA ballot and a pay offer in England, and I wanted to update you about that and how it differs in Scotland.
The SAS Committee of the BMA decided to proceed to ballot SAS doctors in England on strike action. This was, in large part, because their new contracts were tied to a 3 year pay deal which was excluded from the DDRB award, which resulted in their old Speciality Doctor contract pay scale being higher than the new, and therefore very poor uptake of the new contract. Even, now only about 50% of SD in England are on their new contract, compared to about 80% in Scotland who have transferred, although our contract has been available for a year less.
Even before the ballot result was announced, the Westminster government started to negotiate with SASC. They have put an offer to the BMA that SASC felt was good enough to put to members, so a ballot will be happening in England next week.
The offer will not apply to Scotland, but, if accepted, will increase the pressure on the Scottish government to negotiate a pay deal that ensures no doctors in Scotland lose out in comparison.
The offer would mean that the Specialist pay scale in England (£91500-101088) would be higher than in Scotland (£88118-100011). And, although the headline payscales for Specialty Doctors in Scotland would still be slightly above those in England, after taking account the higher income tax and pension contributions in Scotland, our take home pay would be worse at all points of the scale. This would, if accepted, undermine the stated aim of the Scottish government to be the most attractive employer for SAS doctors in the UK.
As you will know, SSASC decided not to submit pay evidence to the DDRB this year, as we have lost confidence in its ability to function as a truly independent pay review body, and we have therefore, along with the Scottish Consultants Committee, asked the Cabinet Secretary for Health to enter direct negotiations for our pay for 2024-25. Hopefully this offer for English SAS doctors will encourage him to get round the table with us and negotiate a deal that will once again make Scotland the destination for SAS doctors.
We are still awaiting a response from the Scottish Government on this – and I’ll keep you up to date when we have it.
In the meantime, I know this is a really tough time of year and that you are working in really tough circumstances, with the NHS stretched to its limits. But there is help out there. Have a read of this excellent blog from my colleague Dr Patricia Moultrie and hear how the Workforce Specialist Service is already helping many doctors – and how you can access it should you need to.
Dr Sine Steele is Chair of the Scottish Staff, Associate Specialists and Specialty Doctors committee
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