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BMA is frustrated by pay award for doctors on old contract
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     The BMA has greeted the new pay awards for doctors who stay on their existing contracts rather than choose the new contracts with a sense of frustration and disappointment, claiming the awards will do nothing to improve morale or the problems of recruitment and retention that the profession faces.

    The above inflation increases made by the Doctors and Dentists Review Body (DDRB) range from 2.5% for hospital doctors to 2.7% for junior doctors. However, the new contracts incorporate an increase of 3.225% for 2004-5.

    Sam Everington, deputy chairman of the BMA, has criticised the awards on the old contract, which have been accepted in full by the government.

    "The increases for doctors who are not benefiting from the new contract are very disappointing. They are far lower than the minimum 5% the BMA believed was needed to ensure that doctors' salaries would be on the same level as comparable professions," he said. "The United Kingdom is critically short of doctors, and demand for their services continues to outstrip supply. Offering improved pay levels would have made a significant contribution to alleviating workforce shortages."

    The pay awards take the starting salary for consultants who are not on the new contract to ?5 699 ($100 300; €81 800), rising to a maximum of ?2,483 without any additional discretionary pay increases. Salaries for house officers rise to ?9 703 for those starting out to a maximum of ?4 477 for a senior house officer in the highest band.

    The new contract for hospital consultants comes into effect on 1 April this year, and it is estimated that between 70% and 80% of consultants will sign up to it. However, consultants who wish to remain on their existing contracts can do so.

    Dr Paul Miller, chairman of the BMA's Central Consultants and Specialists Committee, said: "Consultants are currently very disillusioned because of the failure of the NHS to implement their new contract fairly. The 2.5% award for consultants who remain on the old contract is insulting to doctors who work extremely hard for patients."

    The pay rise for junior doctors has also been received with disappointment. Simon Eccles, chairman of the BMA's Junior Doctors Committee, said: "This is a kick in the teeth for the thousands of junior doctors who work long and antisocial hours to help keep the NHS afloat. The government is treating them with utter contempt."

    GPs who opt for a salary rather than continue on a non-salaried contractual basis can expect to earn between ?7 710 and ?2 478 from April, a rise of less than 3.225%. The increase has been described by Dr John Chisholm, chairman of the BMA's General Practitioner Committee, as one that "will do nothing to encourage those doctors who choose a salaried option in general practice."

    "Young doctors entering general practice training are paid less well as GP registrars than their colleagues in hospital posts. The DDRB recommendation not to increase the registrars' supplement, and thereby close the gap, may well deter young doctors from choosing general practice as their lifetime career. Patient services could suffer as a result," said Dr Chisholm.(London Zosia Kmietowicz)