UK: Top doctors could be forced to take £10,000 pay cut by Government

The Telegraph ^ | 8/20/2010 | Andy Bloxham

[bruinbirdman]

Bonuses for clinical excellence can be worth around £80,000 a year for the best consultant-grade doctors but Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, is expected to ask them to be trimmed.

The Times reported that Mr Lansley will ask the independent Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body, which sets pay and bonuses, to bring the scheme “in line with other public sector pay schemes”.

Bonuses cost the NHS around £350million every year, with around two thirds of that being paid out directly through the awards for clinical excellence.

Mr Lansley's ideas will not be uniformly opposed. Several high-profile figures have asked for the awards for consultants to be scrapped.

They were introduced in the '40s to reward outstanding work but now more than half of all senior doctors receive such a bonus, leading some to question whether they are an effective incentive.

Another criticism is that once a consultant receives such an award, it is paid annually, providing a five-yearly review is passed.

The Times estimated that the 29,000 medical consultants working in the NHS earn between £74,500 to £100,000, but reported suggestions that the review body could cut bonuses by as much as 15 per cent, meaning some doctors could lose more than £10,000 a year.

Medical associations said such high ranking staff were not overpaid and frequently worked beyond the call of duty.

John Stanley, of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: "Doctors may feel less inclined to go the extra mile.”

Stephen Campion, of the Hospital Consultants and Specialists’ Association

[The Working Man]

Coming to a country near you.

[Waco]

Pay DRS. same as garbage men,,,,see if the fools bite on that one.

[libertylover]

Mr Lansley will ask the independent Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body, which sets pay and bonuses

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. They're "independent", but someone else sets their pay and bonuses. This is what happens when liberals are in charge.

[Polybius]

They were introduced in the '40s to reward outstanding work but now more than half of all senior doctors receive such a bonus, leading some to question whether they are an effective incentive.

They are an effective incentive to keep working as a doctor in the U.K. rather than packing up and leaving for greener pastures.

Biggest brain drain from UK in 50 years: Britain is experiencing the worst "brain drain" of any country as highly qualified professionals settle abroad, .... No other nation is losing so many qualified people ... The figures, based on official records from more than 220 countries, will alarm Gordon Brown as tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money is spent on educating graduates. The cost of training a junior doctor, for example, is £250,000.

This is a case of "Penny wise and Pound foolish".

[Moltke]

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. They're "independent", but someone else sets their pay and bonuses. This is what happens when liberals are in charge.

"Independent" relates to the Review Body, not the docs.