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Hospitals in England are being forced to pay “rip-off” rates of over £200 ($276) an hour to senior doctors for overtime. Following a BBC investigation, it was revealed that some consultants are making over £200,000 a year on top of their basic pay. It is believed that many of these top-earning consultants are working overtime on a part-time basis. NHS England has called the situation “totally unacceptable.” At present, the overtime bill for these consultants, which is increasing year by year, is almost £1bn.
A spokesperson for NHS England revealed that while it is essential to pay consultants for additional work, to cut waits and provide safe care, it is committed to spending taxpayer money cautiously. On the other hand, the British Medical Association (BMA) argues that if staffing shortages were to diminish, the NHS would not be in such a position of difficulty.
Tackling waiting lists and covering sickness absences and vacancies, as well as the junior doctor strikes, make overtime a necessary spend for hospitals. Government investment is currently being put into the NHS, and a key election pledge made by the Labour Party is to increase the number of appointments and operations it can offer. One senior NHS source stated that consultants have all the bargaining power and know hospitals cannot make headway on waitlists without them, due to their contract enabling them to opt-out of weekend work and charge whatever their hospitals are willing to pay for overtime.
As well as showing concerns over the value for money delivered with this approach, the cost of overtime is causing resentment among other NHS staff who also work longer hours, for far less pay. The NHS needs to hire more consultants and invest in new technologies to ease the burden. Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick advised that this spending must be “carefully audited.”
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