Jeremy Hunt has been accused of trying to con junior doctors with his last ditch promise of an 11% pay rise, which in reality amounts to a 26% pay cut for many.
In an effort to sway public opinion to his cause and stop possible industrial action, the health secretary has offered junior doctors an 11% rise in basic pay if they accept the new government contract. Details of the new deal were shared with the media before being offered to junior doctors so that the government’s spin machine could get to work before doctors could respond.
Writing to all 50,000 NHS junior doctors, who are often described as the “backbone of the NHS”, Hunt is offering a basic rate pay rise from £22,636 to £25,500 and claimed that all but one percent of junior doctors would see increased incomes under his new contract.
However, the British Medical Association (BMA) have criticised the cynical timing of the offer, just days before ballot papers are issued to junior doctors on 5 November, and others have pointed out that for many doctors this pay rise is no such thing.
In return for this 11% pay rise, junior doctors are expected to work an average 30% more hours, making the change a pay cut in terms of hourly rates. Some doctors, who already work extra hours to supplement their income, will see a real-terms overall pay cut of 26%, with those hours now expected for basic pay.
Hunt has previously been reprimanded by the UK Statistics Authority for attempting to manipulate statistics about NHS funding, and relied upon unpublished and unreliable statistics for his claim that the NHS did not function as a seven-day health service.
