Setting doctors’ pay

SIR – As a recently retired doctor, I am increasingly concerned about the Government’s role in perpetuating strikes (report, January 2). A key part of the Government’s approach to these is that it says it is acting reasonably in accepting recommendations by the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body (DDRB) in setting doctors’ pay.

The DDRB was set up following a Royal Commission in 1960 which recognised it was undesirable for doctors and dentists to strike in support of pay claims. It stated that the new pay review body should ensure that pay was kept in line with the “cost of living, the movement of earnings in other professions and the quality and quantity of recruitment in all professions”. It also noted that doctors’ and dentists’ pay should not be used as a regulator of the national economy.

The government subsequently introduced the concept of “affordability” as a factor that the DDRB must take into account. Affordability is determined by a government’s own political and financial choices, and its introduction prevents the DDRB from achieving its original aims – and specifically ignores the commission’s argument.

A consequence of this is a serious shortage of doctors, with many moving to countries where doctors are better paid, or leaving the profession. Understaffing has been highlighted as a significant contributor by many inquiries into poor healthcare outcomes in the NHS.

The NHS needs to show doctors that it values them by returning to the DDRB’S original purpose, allowing a one-off reset of doctors’ pay and then fully accepting its subsequent recommendations. That would put an end to strikes. Dr Phil Taylor

Kilmington, Devon