NHS strikes: What is happening to consultants’ pay?

Published

1 year ago

July 20, 2023

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As consultant doctors walk out for 48 hours, Sky News analysis has found that their real terms annual earnings have fallen by 15% since 2010.

The NHS Confederation has said the consultants’ strike is a “step into the unknown” – and it feels like that in terms of the statistics used by both sides to make their case. The British Medical Association and the government each have their own favourite figures.

Let’s start with the real terms pay cut. The BMA says that, because inflation has risen faster than pay, consultants have seen their real take-home pay fall by 35% over the past 14 years.

But the BMA is using the Retail Price Index (RPI) to calculate this. The problem is that it’s not how we measure inflation – the Office for National Statistics (ONS) recommends using the consumer price index – CPI – instead. That’s the measure you see when we talk about inflation on Sky News.

And if you use the CPI to chart consultants’ earnings, they haven’t fallen by quite that much – it’s a 15% decrease since 2010.

But that’s still a big decrease, especially when you compare it to the public and private sector averages.

It’s also worth noting that 2010 was a relative high point for consultants’ pay.

Billy Palmer, senior fellow in health policy at the Nuffield Trust, told Sky News: “People typically use 2010 as a baseline, but in fact that was a fairly high point in the somewhat cyclical nature of consultants’ pay. If you look back over a longer period, three decades for example, consultants have actually received a pay rise.”

What about the amount of pay itself?

You might think this should be uncontroversial enough but again, both sides prefer different data.

Tom Dolphin, a consultant and a member of the BMA council, spoke to Sky’s Kay Burley on Thursday morning and referred to the starting basic pay of a consultant – £88,364.

But any pay rise would be applied to all doctors so we should probably use the average basic pay instead, which is £97,406. And if you compared basic pay to 2010, it’s clear that doctors are being paid less.

And basic pay has fallen more in England than in Scotland across all levels of experience.

While a consultant in England working for 10 years would receive a basic pay of around £105,996 in the 2022/23 year, a consultant in Scotland would get £108,345.

In comparison to 2010/11 (adjusted for inflation) this means consultants in England see a bigger decrease in basic pay – 14% compared to 12% in Scotland.

That figure, though, is still some way away from the figure the government likes to quote, that the average annual salary last year was £127,228. That includes non-basic pay: things like working beyond contracted hours (£14,566), medical awards such as the clinical excellence award (£6,028) and money received for being on call (£2,882).

The government likes this higher number – it’s nearly four times the average UK annual salary – but it’s also not an unfair statistic to choose.

The government also likes to mention its offer of a 6% increase in pay for NHS staff consultants, which might sound relatively generous.

But again, if you use CPI forecasts for next year, this would increase doctors’ annual earnings by only 1% in the year ending March 2024 – still far short of that actual 15% decrease since 2010.

Comparisons to other countries and professions

Dr Dolphin also mentioned that consultants were being tempted by job offers from countries where the weather is sunnier and the wages are higher.

Some of the comparisons here are a bit trickier because of different definitions and data.

We’ll start in the UK and compare how “specialist medical practitioners”, which would include consultants as defined by the ONS, compared to other categories in the professional occupations category.

And they compare very, very well – a median gross annual income of £68,614 in April 2022. That’s 3% more than headteachers and nearly three-fifths higher than aerospace engineers.

So specialists are top of the league at home. Abroad, though, they’re mid-table.

Consultants in the UK rank moderately in terms of earnings on a global scale.

The OECD puts a UK medical specialist’s earnings at $155,418 (we’re using dollars now for ease of comparison). This is nearly a third higher than a consultant in France but around a quarter lower than in South Korea.

Private pay and extra work

One last issue to think about. We’ve been talking about consultants’ pay from the NHS. But they’re also free to do work privately. Unfortunately, we don’t know how much they earn on average from this. (We couldn’t find any reliable data – if you have some, let us know!)

The BMA has said that any striking doctors “should not schedule any other work, including in private practice, when they are taking part in industrial action”.

However, there’s nothing stopping them legally.

And consultants may have also benefitted from their junior doctor colleagues striking. “It appears that the medical pay bill has increased over strike periods. So some doctors are demanding and receiving large amounts to cover a shift,” Mr Palmer told Sky News.

“But in that context, there doesn’t seem to be as much of a financial friction as there would be in maybe some other services and professions about going on strike for some staff,” he added.

To sum it up: consultants have high salaries compared to the UK average; they may have earned more money during other BMA strikes and they may – if they choose to – work privately during strikes. That gives them more financial resilience than other occupations: a train driver can’t really drive a private train on a strike day.

Coupled with that very real 15% drop in wages, they could be prepared to wait a long time for a better offer.

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

UK

FTSE 100 closes at record high

Published

2 hours ago

January 17, 2025

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The UK’s benchmark stock index has reached another record high.

The FTSE 100 index of most valuable companies on the London Stock Exchange closed at 8,505.69, breaking the record set last May.

It had already broken its intraday high at 8532.58 on Friday afternoon, meaning it reached a high not seen before during trading hours.

Money blog: Major boost for mortgage holders

The weakened pound has boosted many of the 100 companies forming the top-flight index.

Why is this happening?

Most are not based in the UK, so a less valuable pound means their sterling-priced shares are cheaper to buy for people using other currencies, typically US dollars.

This makes the shares better value, prompting more to be bought. This greater demand has brought up the prices and the FTSE 100.

The pound has been hovering below $1.22 for much of Friday. It’s steadily fallen from being worth $1.34 in late September.

Also spurring the new record are market expectations for more interest rate cuts in 2025, something which would make borrowing cheaper and likely kickstart spending.

What is the FTSE 100?

The index is made up of many mining and international oil and gas companies, as well as household name UK banks and supermarkets.

Familiar to a UK audience are lenders such as Barclays, Natwest, HSBC and Lloyds and supermarket chains Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s.

Other well-known names include Rolls-Royce, Unilever, easyJet, BT Group and Next.

FTSE stands for Financial Times Stock Exchange.

If a company’s share price drops significantly it can slip outside of the FTSE 100 and into the larger and more UK-based FTSE 250 index.

The inverse works for the FTSE 250 companies, the 101st to 250th most valuable firms on the London Stock Exchange. If their share price rises significantly they could move into the FTSE 100.

A good close for markets

It’s a good end of the week for markets, entirely reversing the rise in borrowing costs that plagued Chancellor Rachel Reeves for the past ten days.

Fears of long-lasting high borrowing costs drove speculation she would have to cut spending to meet self-imposed fiscal rules to balance the budget and bring down debt by 2030.

Long-term government borrowing had reached a high not seen since 1998 while the benchmark 10-year cost of government borrowing, as measured by 10-year gilt yields, was at levels last seen around the 2008 financial crisis.

The gilt yield is effectively the interest rate investors demand to lend money to the UK government.

Only the pound has yet to recover the losses incurred during the market turbulence. Without that dropped price, however, the FTSE 100 record may not have happened.

Also acting to reduce sterling value is the chance of more interest rates. Currencies tend to weaken when interest rates are cut.

UK

Nazi-obsessed terrorist Callum Parslow jailed after trying to murder asylum seeker at Worcestershire hotel

Published

2 hours ago

January 17, 2025

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Nazi-obsessed terrorist Callum Parslow jailed after trying to murder asylum seeker at Worcestershire hotel

A Nazi-obsessed man has been jailed for attempted murder after he stabbed an asylum seeker in a terrorist attack.

Callum Parslow was handed a life sentence and will serve a minimum of 22 years and eight months in prison after he knifed the man at a Worcestershire hotel on 2 April last year, as a “protest” against small boat crossings.

The victim, Nahom Hagos, from Eritrea, said it was a “miracle” he survived after being stabbed in the chest and hand.

Parslow, 32, has Hitler’s signature tattooed on his arm and used a £770 knife he had bought online to attack Mr Hagos when he was eating in the conservatory of the Pear Tree Inn at Hindlip.

During sentencing, the judge, Mr Justice Dove, told Parslow: “You committed a vicious and unprovoked assault on a complete stranger Nahom Hagos who suffered devastating injuries as a result of your violence.”

The judge also said Parslow, from Worcester, was “motivated by your adoption of a far-right neo-Nazi mindset which fuelled your warped, violent and racist views”, and added: “This was undoubtedly a terrorist attack.”

He was found guilty of attempted murder in October last year.

Leicester Crown Court heard at the time that Mr Hagos, who used to live at the hotel, was visiting a friend and was stabbed after Parslow asked him for directions to the toilet.

CCTV from the scene showed Mr Hagos fleeing to a car park and being chased by Parslow. He was able to run back into the main reception area, where the hotel manager locked the front door.

Parslow later re-entered through another door apparently searching for further victims, the court heard.

The hotel manager and a builder used a van to take Mr Hagos to hospital in Worcester, as they felt he was losing too much blood, where he was found to have an 8cm-long wound which had not penetrated any of his vital organs.

After trying to kill Mr Hagos, Parslow ran towards a canal and was spotted with what appeared to be blood on his hands.

Officers found blood containing a DNA profile matching that of the victim on the blade of the knife abandoned by Parslow.

Failed manifesto post

After the stabbing and as police closed in, Parslow tried to post a “terrorist manifesto” on X, tagging Tommy Robinson and politicians including Nigel Farage, Suella Braverman and Sir Keir Starmer.

He wrote that he “just did my duty to England” and had tried to “exterminate” Mr Hagos. However, it failed to send as he copied in too many people.

Others on his list included Laurence Fox, Lee Anderson, Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and various news organisations.

Nazi memorabilia at bedsit

During the trial last October, the court heard an axe, metal baseball bat and a second knife were found at Parslow’s bedsit in Bromyard Terrace in Worcester.

Police also discovered a swastika armband, a Nazi-era medallion and copies of Hitler’s book Mein Kampf.

Jurors were also told Parslow had Hitler’s signature tattooed on his arm “in order to demonstrate his affiliation to the ideals of the leader of the German Nazi party”.

He also pleaded guilty to an unconnected sexual offence and two charges of sending electronic communications with intent to cause distress and anxiety at the time.

‘The pain feels unbearable’

Mr Hagos told the court in an impact statement he continues to feel “excruciating pain” in his hand after the attack by Parslow.

Read out by the prosecution on Friday, he said: “The pain is unbearable and keeps me awake all night long.

“The pain feels like an electric shock going through my hand and I now have insomnia.”

He then said he had been “living and pursuing a happy life before the incident,” but added: “I feel lonely and don’t feel safe on the street.

“My life has been turned upside down.”

UK

Missing sisters in Aberdeen made earlier visit to same bridge where they were last seen, CCTV shows

Published

5 hours ago

January 17, 2025

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Missing sisters in Aberdeen made earlier visit to same bridge where they were last seen, CCTV shows

Two missing sisters in Aberdeen made an earlier visit to the bridge where they were last seen hours before they disappeared, CCTV footage has revealed.

Police Scotland said a text message was also sent to the women’s landlady on the morning they vanished, indicating they would not be returning to the flat.

Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both aged 32, were last spotted in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday 7 January.

The siblings – who are part of a set of triplets and originally from Hungary – were seen crossing the bridge and turning right on to a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.

Their disappearance has sparked a major search operation.

In an update on Friday, Police Scotland said the sisters were seen at the same bridge at around 2.50pm on Monday 6 January – around 12 hours before they were last seen.

The force said the siblings, who were both wearing rucksacks, spent five minutes at the footpath and the Victoria Bridge but did not engage with anyone else.

Officers are now appealing for anyone who may have seen the sisters at this earlier time to come forward.

After visiting the bridge, the women were then seen on CCTV making their way through the city centre, via Union Square shopping centre, back to their flat in the Charlotte Street area.

Police Scotland said there is “nothing to indicate” that the siblings left their flat again until shortly before they were last seen at the River Dee in the early hours of the following morning.

A text message was sent from Henrietta’s mobile phone to their landlady at the same time they were last seen, indicating they would not be returning to the flat.

The phone was then disconnected from the network and has not been active since.

The following day, the sisters’ personal belongings were found inside in the flat and the landlady reported her concerns to police.

Superintendent David Howieson said: “We have carried out a significant trawl of public and private CCTV footage as we try to establish the sisters’ movements.

“We have had a positive response from the public to our appeals and I would like to thank everyone who has already come forward.

“I would again urge anyone with any information which could help find Eliza and Henrietta to get in touch.

“We remain in regular contact with Eliza and Henrietta’s family in Hungary and we will continue to provide them with support at this very difficult time.

“Searches will continue in the coming days and our officers will continue to do everything they can to find Eliza and Henrietta.”

The search team has included specialist advisers, emergency service partners, a police helicopter, and the force’s dog branch and marine unit.

Police Scotland previously said there has been “no evidence” of the missing sisters leaving the immediate area.

Officers are keeping an open mind about what happened to the women but said they have not found anything to suggest any “suspicious circumstances or criminality”.

It previously emerged the sisters did not tell their relatives they were “immediately” going to move out of their rented flat.

In a statement released through Police Scotland earlier this week, the women’s family said: “This has been a very worrying and upsetting time for our family.

“We are really worried about Eliza and Henrietta and all we want is for them to be found.”