HCSA will meet with other health unions this week to coordinate next steps after the government announced another real-terms pay cut for all doctors in England.
The government pay award for doctors in England is as follows:
- Consultants - 4.5%
- SAS - "increasing the overall investment, on average, by 4.5%"
- Junior Doctors - no additional rise (remain on 2% via four-year fixed deal)
- No increase to value of LCEAs
HCSA President Dr Naru Narayanan said: "Doctors spent the pandemic caring for us all, but today’s unfunded, below-inflation award sends a message that the government is ambivalent about whether they stay or leave. Junior Doctors have been left even further behind on pay.
“HCSA’s overriding motivation is to ensure the stability of the medical workforce in the face of retention issues and staffing shortages. Both are affecting patients and hampering the NHS's ability to tackle the pandemic backlog.
“Tackling pay erosion of over 30 percent in 12 years, plus tax rules which are driving doctors into early retirement, are key to achieving this stability. Instead, today’s award represents a further damaging real-terms cut to wages.
“Hospital doctors’ pay is being used as a crude macroeconomic policy tool rather than to address workforce problems.
“Many hospital doctors have just had enough. Anger among Junior Doctors is growing. HCSA will now be coordinating with other health unions and asking our members what steps they are willing to take to achieve proper recognition of the workforce crisis our NHS faces.”
HCSA's internal polling shows overwhelming support from members for a campaign to reverse years of real-terms pay decline, alongside much-needed pensions taxation reform.