Eye-watering sum consultants are earning while they cover for junior doctors on strike

CONSULTANTS can earn £2,000 a day covering for junior doctor strikes.

A Sun probe found top medics are charging up to £250 an hour for shifts.

Tens of thousands of British Medical Association junior doctors walked out for the third time last week to try and force a 35 per cent pay rise.

Strikes earlier in the year are believed to have cost NHS chiefs £7million a day to plug staff shortages.

Some consultants charged more than four times their normal daily rate for the cover.

They usually earn between £88,000 and £119,000 per year — equal to £340 to £460 per day.

But A&E consultants at United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust charged £2,000 per eight-hour shift on at least four occasions in March and April.

And in London’s NHS hospitals, some consultants threatened to refuse to work overtime overnight if bosses did not pay them BMA rates of up to £269 per hour, the Health Service Journal reported.

Matthew Lesh, of the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: “Junior doctor strikes are costing taxpayers dearly.”

John O’Connell, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, added: “Consultants already receive generous pay packets and now they are making a pretty penny covering striking medics too.”

The BMA said: “When doctors go on strike, it’s right those who cover are paid appropriately.”

And BMA chief Dr Rob Laurenson claimed many consultants donated their shift earnings to the union’s strike fund.

Speaking at a rally in Manchester last week, Dr Laurenson said: “Consultants are donating money that they’re finding through the cover that they’re providing to the strike fund.

“There will come a point in time where the strike fund will be able to supply significant support for junior doctors to be able to consistently take action.”

Rory Deighton, of the NHS Confederation, said “no NHS leader wanted to be in this situation”.

He said: “We knew that securing consultant cover for absent junior doctors would be challenging due to negotiations on the overtime payments.

“As a result, some trusts had no other option but to pay for consultant cover.

“This war of attrition has gone on for far too long and while leaders have done all they can to mitigate against the effects of disruption, the long-term effects on the service is worrying.”