Top-paid NHS consultants averaged over £200,000 as winter strikes loom
Official figures show that the highest-paid 10 per cent of NHS consultants earned more than £200,000 on average in the year to April, prompting renewed criticism of the British Medical Association’s planned winter strikes. The figures come as the Government considers next year’s consultant pay award and the union seeks further pay rises and shorter working hours.
Among about 66,759 NHS consultants, the top 5 per cent averaged £223,518 and the next 5 per cent £203,810; overall average pay reached £150,000 this financial year after rising £25,000 over four years. The BMA has rejected a proposed 2.4 per cent increase and called a 48-hour strike for 25 and 26 November, with further action possible into next summer. Of 18,069 consultants who voted, 13,695 supported strikes; officials estimate the union’s demands could cost £2 billion to £3 billion, while the BMA says consultants’ pay has fallen 25 per cent in real terms over 17 years.
In short
- Top-paid NHS consultants averaged over £200,000.
- Consultants plan a 48-hour strike in November.
- The BMA and Government dispute pay and working conditions.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The high average pay among the best-paid consultants gives critics reason to question whether further industrial action is proportionate, particularly when it could disrupt patient care and the union’s demands may carry substantial public costs. They may argue that pay awards should reflect current earnings and the wider pressures on NHS resources, while negotiated improvements are preferable to strikes.
The case against
The top-paid group’s average does not show what most consultants earn or how pay has changed after inflation; the BMA says consultants’ real-terms pay has fallen by a quarter over 17 years. Supporters of the strikes may argue that rejecting the proposed rise and seeking better hours are necessary to address that decline and working conditions, and that sustained recruitment and retention matter to patient care over the longer term.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “One in ten senior NHS doctors rake in pay of more than £200,000 a year, official figures show – sparking fresh calls for militant health union bosses to call off crippling winter strikes”.