NHS consultants accept 10.5% pay rise from Scottish Government

NHS consultants working in Scotland have voted to accept a pay rise of 10.5% after entering into a formal dispute with the Scottish Government.

The offer represents a £124.9m investment in their pay and reward package, bringing it in line with other UK nations.

It comes after the British Medical Association (BMA) warned that Scottish consultants risked becoming the worst-paid in Britain.

The deal will see a 10.5% uplift to all basic pay, backdated to April 1.

A further £5.7m has been made available to enhance discretionary points, allowing NHS boards to reward excellence in service delivery.

Health secretary Neil Gray said: “I am very pleased that the consultants have voted to accept our pay offer. This will ensure that our consultant workforce feel valued, supported and fairly rewarded.

“This will bring Scotland back into line with recent pay deals in other parts of the UK, ensuring our NHS remains competitive when recruiting and retaining consultants.

“I wish to thank our consultants for their dedication and patience. They are a critical part of NHS Scotland’s workforce and we are committed to supporting them.”

Dr Alan Robertson, chair of BMA Scotland’s Consultant Committee said: “Overall, it is our view – and the vote indicates this is shared across the profession – that this year’s pay uplift is an important first step in addressing consultant pay erosion. It will help maintain Scotland as an attractive place for consultants to work, improve retention and therefore benefit the NHS and patients whose care suffers as workforce vacancies go unaddressed.

“However, there is much more to do and build upon from here – it is far from the end of the story. We still have ground to make up to restore pay to levels of the past and make up what we have lost to poor pay awards and the impact of inflation.

“Pension taxes continue to be an issue and while this pay award helps, higher income tax rates here do impact on competitiveness of our jobs and of the Scottish NHS compared to the rest of the UK. So, we must keep pushing to make sure working as a consultant in Scotland is as attractive as possible, and that this pay offer is not a one off, but more an indication of a trend.”