Doctors’ union chiefs branded 'hypocrites' for demanding a 35% pay rise while paying staff 5.25% | The Sun
DOCTORS’ union chiefs have been branded “hypocrites” for demanding a 35 per cent pay rise while paying staff 5.25.
The British Medical Association’s hard-pressed workforce received the “final offer” plus a £1,000 bonus earlier this month, an email leaked to The Sunday Times revealed.
Junior doctors and consultants in the BMA went on strike last week — despite an offer of between six and 10.3 per cent.
Ministers say it would cost tens of thousands of pounds each to meet their demands.
A Tory source said: “This is staggering hypocrisy by the BMA.
"It’s the latest example of its leadership putting politics above patients in a quest for a pay rise almost seven times what they’re offering their staff.
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“After the latest rise, a consultant’s annual NHS earnings are set to hit £134,000 on top of generous pension rule changes.”
The offer to BMA staff was settled after talks with their union, the GMB.
The BMA said: “Unlike the Government, the BMA recognises the fall in value of pay.”
It called it “inappropriate” to compare the staff wage discussions with the doctors’ campaign as the medics had faced “15 years of pay cuts”.
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NHS figures, meanwhile, show around 8,000 consultants joined last week’s strike, well below half the 20,741 who voted to strike.
Some 67,762 appointments and operations had to be axed.