Senior doctors in Northern Ireland vote to accept pay offer
Northern Ireland Consultants Committee chairman Dr David Farren said consultants feel the offer is a ‘positive first step towards full pay restoration’ (PA)
Senior doctors in Northern Ireland have agreed to accept a pay offer.
The British Medical Association’s Northern Ireland Consultants Committee (NICC) accepted after members voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of the deal.
It came following pay negotiations after consultants received a “credible” pay offer from the Department of Health, leading them to suspend strike action planned for June.
The offer is described as including a revised consultant pay scale with uplifts at all pay points, the highest percentage uplift in the UK this year, and the highest consultant starting salary in the UK.
However junior doctors in the region remain in dispute with the Department of Health over pay and the Northern Ireland Specialists, Associate Specialist and Specialty Doctor Committee is moving towards a formal ballot of members over pay later this year.
NICC chairman Dr David Farren said consultants feel the offer is a “positive first step towards full pay restoration”.
“Consultants bear ultimate responsibility for patient care, they are key to addressing the waiting list crisis and lead on training doctors and clinical innovation, yet in Northern Ireland their pay did not reflect this level of responsibility,” he said.
“This deal begins the process of making our pay more attractive and competitive with our UK counterparts, which is critical at a time of chronic workforce shortages here.”
Dr Farren added: “While we are glad to have resolved this particular pay dispute, it is regrettable that it took other UK nations reaching pay deals and an overwhelming yes vote for strike action before the department made a credible offer to open pay negotiations.
“It should never have reached that point. Valuing the skills of our workforce and ultimately protecting patient care was at the core of this dispute.
“The department must now demonstrate that it values doctors by continuing to work with us on reversing years of below-inflation pay awards and to improve our terms and conditions.
“That includes timely and prompt payment of this pay award and all future pay body recommended uplifts.”
Consultant doctors in BMA vote to accept pay offer from Stormont Health Department
Friday 23 August 2024
Consultant doctors who are members of the British Medical Association in Northern Ireland have voted to accept a pay offer from Stormont's Department of Health.
Over 94% of consultants voted to accept an average uplift of 5.26%.
The uplift is in addition to the 6% already awarded in the 2023/24 pay review and is separate to any subsequent pay award in 24/25.
Consultants in NI will now have the highest starting salary in the UK.
"It means that doctors will not be leaving Northern Ireland for financial reasons to go elsewhere in the UK," said Dr David Farren, chair of BMA in Northern Ireland.
"We are no longer on the back foot when it comes to UK nations, we are firmly in the middle.
"Salaries still are higher in the Republic of Ireland, for example and elsewhere across the world, people will have their own reasons for moving but what this does is make it less likely, it increases the friction for people who are considering moving for financial reasons."
Although the dispute may have ended for consultants, it's a different story for junior doctors.
They have taken strike action over pay and remain in discussion with the Health Department, meanwhile their specialist doctor colleagues, who work in more service provision roles, are working towards balloting for industrial action.
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