Doctors in Wales get better pay deal than in England

DOCTORS in Wales have strongly welcomed a pay deal which will see their earnings get a bigger boost than if they worked in England.

GPs will receive a 4% pay rise following the Welsh Government’s decision to implement in full the recommendations of the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB).

Specialty and Associate Specialist (SAS) doctors will get a 3.5% boost.

The BMA, the doctors’ trade union, said it was proof that “concrete steps are being taken to ensure Wales is an attractive place for doctors to work” and would help address recruitment challenges.

In England, GPs are in line for a de facto pay increase of 2% with speciality doctors getting a 3% increase.

Dr David Bailey, the chair of the BMA’s Welsh Council, said: “Whilst the DDRB’s recommendations could have gone further to address many years of below inflation rises, doctors in Wales will be pleased that the Welsh Government has decided to implement the recommendations made by the independent panel.

“At a time when the NHS is facing severe staff shortages across the UK, and doctors are having to manage unprecedented levels of demand, this announcement and the decision to backdate the pay award to April 2018, shows that the Welsh Government understands the value of doctors who are working tirelessly to improve and maintain the health of the people of Wales.

“By following a different path to that taken in England the Cabinet Secretary [Vaughan Gething] has again shown that concrete steps are being taken to ensure Wales is an attractive place for doctors to work and will go some way towards addressing the recruitment and retention challenges we are facing.”

However, a 2% pay increase for salaried dentists in Wales – the same as for salaried doctors – has gone down badly.

The British Dental Association (BDA) in Wales warned that “austerity pay” and targets left the “very future of the service in doubt”.

It claims earnings for dentists in Wales are “30% less than their opposite numbers in England” and morale in the profession has fallen to its “lowest levels since 2000 and more than half of dentists are considering leaving the profession”.

Tom Bysouth, chair of the BDA’s Welsh General Dental Practice Committee, said: “The Welsh Government’s below-inflation pay deal is another pay cut in all but name.

“Morale in the dental profession is at an all-time low, thanks to a failed contract and real-terms pay squeeze without parallel in the UK public sector.”

Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Secretary Angela Burns said the pay decision, signalled by Carwyn Jones during his speech to the UK Labour conference yesterday, was “long overdue and cynically kept on the back burner” for political reasons.

She said: “The Welsh Conservatives welcome the fact that a more generous salary is being given to those who dedicate their careers to helping others, and that the pay rise has only been possible because of the UK Conservative Government’s commitment to the NHS.

“The Welsh Government still need to make it clear just how this offer is supposedly better than the settlement for NHS England, especially since the UK Government already announced their plans to honour the recommendations of the review that sparked this move back in July...

“Now that they have improved NHS staff pay, let’s hope that Welsh Labour overturn the habit of a lifetime and meet their A&E targets, stop making people wait hours for ambulances, reduce waiting times, and see Wales’ largest health board taken out of special measures.”

Health Secretary Vaughan Gething said: “Following years of austerity, imposed by the UK Government, we have committed additional funding to fulfil the DDRB recommendations.

“The reality remains, however, that our budgets are limited and so meeting a pay deal resulting from the lifting of the UK Government’s pay cap without appropriate funding to follow presents a risk to the future funding of NHS Wales...

“Together with our recent agreement on a pay rise for the rest of the NHS Wales workforce, this shows we are committed to investing in staff to ensure they can continue to deliver excellent health and social care.

“Together with recruitment campaigns like Train, Work, Live this will help us create a workforce that can deliver our long-term vision for the NHS in Wales.”