Locums ‘refuse to work unless they get 50% pay rise’

SOME locum doctors are refusing to work unless they get pay rises of more than 50 per cent, the NHS watchdog has warned.

This could open up worrying gaps in rotas over Easter, it is feared.

NHS Improvement, which regulates hospitals, said some doctors were collaborating and effectively threatening to strike if they aren’t paid extortionate rates.

Jim Mackey, the chief executive, told the Health Service Journal their behaviour should see them struck off the doctors’ register.

Last Thursday, 14 locum doctors suddenly pulled out of shifts at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, forcing consultants to step in.

And an email from a manager at an unnamed hospital in the South West revealed three locums are refusing to work unless their pay is increased by 56 per cent.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt imposed a pay cap for locum doctors and nurses in 2015 of up to 55 per cent more than the rates paid to permanent staff members.

But hospitals often ignore this and offer far higher rates as otherwise locums might not work, which could leave them short-staffed.

Mr Mackey said: ‘We are trying to hold our nerve and not blink, but safety will drive the decisions. Behaviour reported by trusts in recent days suggested a number of medics were working together, to collectively withdraw labour in an effective “strike”. I don’t know how they’re on the register.’

One unnamed NHS finance director told the HSJ the locums’ tactics were like a ‘Mexican standoff’.

Chris Hopson, of NHS Providers, which represents hospital managers, said: ‘A number of our members said some contractors are seeking to put pressure on them to pay more. This is a concern as every trust wants to guarantee safe care at a time of workforce shortages.’

Figures from 2015, before the cap, show one hospital paid a locum cardiologist £11,000 to work three shifts over the Easter weekend.