Responding to the Government’s publication of evidence to the doctors’ pay review body, the DDRB, in which the Government suggests it can afford to increase doctors’ pay by 2.5% in 2026, BMA council chair Dr Tom Dolphin said:
“It is frankly indefensible that yet another Government is once again suggesting real-terms pay cut for doctors – an increase of less than 50p per hour* for many newly-qualified doctors. After more than a decade of pay erosion, spiralling workloads, and an NHS in a state of near chaos, this is a deliberate choice to devalue those who hold the health service together, a profound disregard for our doctors and the state of the profession.
“This is not responsible governance; it is a calculated decision to let a vital profession bear the cost of political failure. Each sub-inflation offer pushes more doctors to leave the NHS or the country altogether, and it is patients who ultimately pay the price for this foolishness.
“At time when so many resident doctors are struggling to secure training posts and GPs cannot get jobs— a shocking waste of talent in a system that is chronically short of staff – we have ministers who think it is acceptable to pay the doctors we do have an insult, rather than a decent wage. The Government’s failure to provide fair pay, adequate positions for doctors in training, and jobs for GPs exposes a complete lack of long-term planning or respect for the profession.
“After hard-won reforms by consultants to restore the independence of the pay review body, the BMA wants to see that independence come to the fore when the DDRB makes its recommendation for doctors’ pay in 2026, we expect the DDRB to recommend an uplift that is just that and not a pay cut.
“For this Government to even consider recommending what amounts to a pay cut isn’t prudence; it’s neglect dressed up as restraint.”
Ends
Notes to editors
*A 2.5% uplift on the first-year resident doctor hourly rate of £18.62 equates to £19.09 per hour – an uplift of 47p.
The BMA is a professional association and trade union representing and negotiating on behalf of all doctors in the UK. A leading voice advocating for outstanding health care and a healthy population. An association providing members with excellent individual services and support throughout their lives.