Top doctor slams striking NHS consultants demanding 35% pay rise despite earning £128k-a-year
NHS consultants are too rich to strike, a leading doctor has told his co-workers.
Dr David Randall described calls to give senior medics a 35 per cent pay rise as “eye-watering”.
Thousands in the British Medical Association are set to strike on July 20 and 21 — immediately after a five-day walkout by junior doctors.
Consultants earn £128,000 a year on average but say their pay has dropped by a third in real terms since 2008.
Dr Randall, a London-based kidney consultant, told a BMA conference: “A non-negotiable 35 per cent pay restoration is an eye-watering demand.
“Many of us have sufficient financial security to strike indefinitely.
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“Three weeks ago I was working nights, covering the strike.
"Two nurses asked if it was true I was earning £230 an hour, similar to what they were earning for the 13-hour shift.
"What could I say? It was true.
“They and other colleagues have accepted five per cent.
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“Thirty-five per cent is the wrong goal and strikes the wrong approach.
"Let’s push for a rise but one that allows us to look our colleagues and patients in the eye.”
Dr Randall said he would not strike, adding: “Personally I don’t feel I’m badly paid.
“If we accept that economic growth has not kept pace with inflation and we’ve all got poorer, I don’t think doctors should be the only ones not to feel that pain.”
Nearly 21,000 consultants voted in favour of a strike last month — about a third of the 59,000 total.
It means most operations and treatments will have to be postponed.
Dr Phil Banfield, chairman of the BMA council, yesterday warned the NHS’s 75th anniversary celebration “threatens to be a wake” amid the crisis.
Acas says it is ready to help resolve the row between the Government and junior docs.
Note: The BMA has denied that it wants a 35 per cent pay rise for consultants and said it is seeking an unspecified "above-inflationary" increase.