BMA defends bonuses for consultants

11 Jan 10
Senior doctors have defended a bonus scheme for NHS consultants following the Scottish health secretary’s plea for a UK-wide overhaul of the system
By David Scott

11 January 2010

Senior doctors have defended a bonus scheme for NHS consultants following the Scottish health secretary’s plea for a UK-wide overhaul of the system.

In a letter to the prime minister and health secretaries in Scotland, England and Wales, Nicola Sturgeon said the distinction awards scheme for consultants was outdated. She wants it to be replaced with a fairer system that recognises the outstanding contributions of the range of health care practitioners in the twenty-first century.

Sturgeon said: ‘Distinction awards have been in existence in the NHS since its foundation more than 60 years ago. But the NHS now works in very different ways, with a completely different skill mix from that of the past.

‘The existing schemes are outdated and do little to create a drive for excellence throughout the clinical teams we have now and which we would wish to encourage further. They are, therefore, in need of change.’

Sturgeon added that, in the short term and to signal longer-term reform, she wanted the budget to be frozen in cash terms for the year ahead.

‘We are in a different financial climate at present and the pay of already highly paid NHS staff should not be increased.’

But the British Medical Association said the long-established distinction awards scheme was central to improving quality in the NHS.

Dr Paul Flynn, deputy chair of the BMA’s UK consultants committee, said: ‘They are not a simple cash bonus but reward those consultants who are putting in the most to the NHS and delivering the highest-quality care for their patients.

‘They are funded from the overall pool for consultant pay and do not take money away from other staff or from services to patients.’

Flynn said the clinical excellence award scheme in England had undergone a major overhaul in 2003 and had been continually audited and refined since then by a panel that included lay representation. Changes had also been made to the scheme in Wales at that time.

Did you enjoy this article?

AddToAny

Top