Health

BMA Cymru Wales to put pay offer to doctors in pay dispute

Published

1 year ago

June 7, 2024

DOCTORS’ union the BMA has secured pay offers for doctors working in secondary care in Wales following pay talks with the Welsh Government.

Members of BMA Cymru Wales including Junior doctors, SAS doctors and Consultants will now vote on whether to accept the three separate offers.

Junior doctors have been offered a 7.4% additional uplift taking the total to a 12.4% uplift for the 23/24 financial year and will be back dated to April 2023.

A revised consultant pay scale is proposed, which provides higher career earnings, significantly better starting pay, and an additional pay rise of up to 10.1% for some consultant doctors.

For SAS doctors, pay offers for newer contracts include increases of 6.1-9.2%, as well as an additional uplift for associate specialists, senior doctors who are on closed contracts.

The offers, which also include non-pay elements and reform of pay scales and contract terms,* are the result of weeks of pay negotiations which began in April this year after sustained pressure from BMA Cymru Wales including 10 days of strike action by junior doctors and planned industrial action by senior doctors which were suspended last month to start the talks.

From Wednesday 12 June to 26 June members will vote on whether to accept the offers.

Dr Oba Babs Osibodu and Dr Peter Fahey co-chairs of the BMA’s Welsh Junior Doctors Committee said: “We entered pay negotiations in good faith to reach a deal that will put us on the path to achieving full pay restoration to address the years of erosion to our pay We’re satisfied that this offer delivers on our ambition. This offer puts us well on the path to pay restoration.

“We are therefore encouraging members to vote to accept this deal. It is a testament to the resolve they have shown in taking part in industrial action to achieve a better future for the profession

Dr Stephen Kelly, chair of BMA Cymru Wales’ Consultants committee said: “We are pleased to have been able to reach an offer that we believe honours our overwhelming strike mandate and offers significant improvements in pay for consultants across their careers.

“The offer is recognition of the hard work and dedication of senior doctors and signifies a commitment to attracting and retaining doctors in Wales by offering a fairer more competitive value for their service.

“Whilst ultimately it will be up for members to decide, we believe the offer is a big step in the right direction for the profession and so we are recommending that members accept it. We will continue to work hard to improve your pay and working conditions, and we understand this is just the first step.”

Dr Ali Nazir, chair of BMA Cymru Wales’ SAS doctor committee said: “We are pleased to be able to bring an offer worthy of the hard work and dedication shown by SAS doctors in Wales. We know voting to take industrial action was a very difficult decision for our members but in voting to strike they were choosing to stand up for themselves and their colleagues.

“By taking part and getting us here they have played a part in securing a better future for SAS doctors in Wales. We are encouraging members to vote to accept this offer.”

In August last year the BMA’s committees representing all secondary care doctors in Wales voted to enter a trade dispute with the Welsh Government after being offered another below inflation pay uplift of just 5% for the 23/24 financial year.

The RCN in wales has responded. Helen Whyley, Executive Director of Royal College of Nursing Wales said: “All NHS workers deserve a proper pay rise, but nursing staff are still waiting at the back of the queue. They feel let down and misled by this government.”

“The repeated firm position from the Welsh government that there was no money in the pot for NHS nursing staff salaries was either untrue or demonstrates that they can’t
manage their finances. Either way it shows a total disregard to principle of equity of approach to NHS negotiations.”

“Actions speak louder than words. This announcement comes only
days after the First Minister opened our annual RCN Congress on home soil in Newport, speaking of his unwavering support for nursing staff. It shows his government support is merely hot air and no real commitment. His government have failed to fulfil the promises
made to nurses in last year’s pay award and now they add insult to that injury by substantially increasing only the doctors’ pay award for 2023/24.”

“Congress saw the RCN launch its general election manifesto, with the leading priority being a substantial pay rise for all nursing staff. The nursing workforce highlighted
inadequate staffing levels, treating patients in corridors, limited or no access to continuing professional development and the increased demands of delivering patient care. All of these pressures lead to severe moral distress, leading to an increase in nursing
staff so overwhelmed with pressure from work that they even considered taking their own lives. This is unacceptable.

“All health care staff deserve to be paid fairly and be recognised for the safety critical work that they do. Our members will be deeply discouraged to hear that their
sacrifices and unrelenting efforts during the RCN Wales pay campaign in Wales has been cast aside by Welsh government.

“We will be urgently raising this with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and the First Minister urging them to address fair pay for nursing now.”

Eluned Morgan MS, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care said on Friday (Jun 6): “We have today made a formal pay award offer to each of the three BMA branches of practices – junior doctors, SAS doctors and consultants – for 2023-24, following successful negotiations over the last two months.

“We would like to thank members of the BMA’s negotiating teams and NHS Employers for the constructive nature of the talks, which have enabled us to make these formal offers, which will now be put to the BMA membership for consideration. Each of the three BMA elected representative committees are recommending members accept the offers.

“While strike action has been paused during negotiations, if these offers are accepted, it will end this dispute and industrial action, meaning doctors will return to work in Wales for the benefit of patients and NHS services.

“The negotiations have been robust and while the aim was to end the 2023-24 dispute and prevent further disruptive strike action, these offers also ensure the additional investment in doctors’ pay is balanced against commitments towards operational reforms, which seek to address productivity and efficiency and achieving future contract reform. These pay awards, if accepted, will also help to address inequalities in the senior NHS medical workforce.

“These offers are at the limit of our affordability. We have been open and transparent about our financial constraints with our social partners during negotiations.”

The Welsh Government confirmed that for Junior Doctors, the offer consists of a 12.4% pay uplift, backdated to 1 April 2023. This includes the 5% pay lift for 2023-24, which has already been paid. If agreed, this offer is outside of the Doctor and Dentists Review Body (DDRB) recommendation for 2023-24. This offer is in line with the pay award accepted by junior doctors in Scotland.

It was confirmed that all parties will commit to re-entering contract negotiations as soon as practicable once a new BMA junior doctors committee is elected this year with the ambition of reaching an agreement that, subject to approval by BMA members, would begin implementation in 2025-26. The contract negotiations will build on the contract rejected in 2022, while recognising that significant changes will be required.

The Welsh Government and the BMA Welsh consultant committee have agreed the time is right to reform the current pay structure, which is more than 20 years old. A modern pay structure will better support recruitment and retention, better reward performance, address the gender pay gap, and support progression through the career of consultants in Wales. The new pay structure will be backdated to 1 January 2024. If this offer is agreed, it will be outside the DDRB recommendation for 2023-24.

The BMA rate card will be withdrawn if the offer is accepted with immediate effect at both local and national levels in Wales.

All parties have agreed to an all-Wales job planning policy being developed and implemented during 2024-25 along with an NHS Wales recruitment template for newly-recruited consultants in Wales.

It has also been agreed that scoping work will be undertaken during 2024-25 in preparation for contract reform talks. Any reformed contract will need to be fully modernised against current and future requirements of the NHS Wales for the benefit of patients and the wellbeing of consultants.

In 2021, a new specialty doctor contract was agreed in social partnership and implemented as part of a multi-year pay deal. This offer addresses the unintended imbalances in the pay scale for doctors on the 2021 contract and the 2008 contract to ensure consistency and fairness across the specialty doctor workforce.

This investment will encourage more doctors to take up the new contracts, which offer modernised terms and conditions to ensure that doctors and patients benefit from the reformed contract and working conditions.

In 2021, a new specialist doctor contract was agreed in social partnership and implemented as part of a multi-year pay deal. This offer addresses the unintended imbalances between the specialty doctor and specialist pay scales to ensure a career progression pathway is maintained across the workforce. It will resolve the current issue that exists where the top pay point of the 2008 specialty doctor pay scale is higher than the starting salary for the specialist grade.

The Welsh Government says it has listened to the BMA Welsh SAS committee and while recognising this is a closed grade, recognises the rationale for associate specialists to receiving comparable levels of pay against the consultant pay scale, given the skills and experience of associate specialists working on consultant rotas.

A spokesperson said: “The offer includes uplifting the 2022-23 pay scales by a further 4%, making a total of 9% for 2023-24 backdated to 1 January 2024 for associate specialists.

“The BMA rate card will be withdrawn if the offer is accepted with immediate effect at both local and national levels in Wales.

“Full details of each pay offer will be communicated through BMA Wales to their members.

“We would like to take this opportunity to encourage doctors who have any questions about the offer to speak to their BMA representatives as this is a fair offer to address the pay dispute.

“We look forward to working in social partnership with all NHS and health trade unions to discuss the 2024-25 pay award.”

Health

Fresh alarm over life expectancy in Wales as CMO warns of ‘prevention revolution’

Published

4 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Tom Sinclair

WALES is living sicker for longer, the Chief Medical Officer has warned, as new figures show a worrying drop in the number of years people can expect to live in good health – with women hit hardest.

The findings, published today in Dr Joanne Absolom’s first annual report since taking over from Sir Frank Atherton, have prompted immediate calls for the next Welsh Government to overhaul its approach to public health after the 2026 Senedd election.

Dr Absolom says Wales must now move decisively away from a system that largely treats illness towards one that prevents people becoming ill in the first place. Her report warns that healthy life expectancy is falling across the country and highlights widening inequalities between communities.

Responding to the findings, Darren Hughes, Director of the Welsh NHS Confederation, said the message could not be clearer.

“NHS leaders in Wales welcome the report’s call for a prevention-first approach,” he said. “We have to move from simply treating illness to actively promoting wellbeing, and that means a proper cross-government strategy that tackles inequality and gives people the support to take control of their own health.”

He added that every pound spent on proven public health programmes delivers an average return of £14 – evidence, he said, that prevention “makes moral and financial sense” at a time when NHS budgets are under extreme pressure.

“It is deeply concerning to see healthy life expectancy falling, particularly for women,” he said. “Investment in prevention is vital if we are to make our health and care services sustainable.”

While health boards, councils and community groups are already working on preventative programmes, the Welsh NHS Confederation says Wales needs far greater ambition – and the NHS must be given the tools and flexibility to scale up what works.

The Chief Medical Officer’s report also raises serious concerns about NHS workforce shortages and urges significant investment in digital technology to improve productivity and patient outcomes.

Mr Hughes said all political parties should “take heed” as they prepare their manifestos for next year’s Senedd election.

“Those seeking to form the next Welsh Government have a clear blueprint here. We cannot keep doing the same things and expect different results. Prevention, workforce and digital transformation have to be top priorities.”

The Welsh NHS Confederation — which represents all seven health boards, the three NHS trusts, HEIW and Digital Health and Care Wales — has already outlined its detailed priorities in its own election document, Building the health and wellbeing of the nation.

With the Senedd election just over a year away, today’s report adds fresh, authoritative evidence that Wales needs a radical shift in how it approaches health if it is to secure a healthier future for all.

Health

Government orders clinical review amid sharp rise in mental health diagnoses

Published

7 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Tom Sinclair

4.4 million working-age people now claiming sickness or incapacity benefit, up by 1.2 million since 2019, many because of a mental health condition

A CLINICAL review into how mental health conditions are diagnosed across the UK is expected to begin this week, following concerns within government over rapidly rising sickness-benefit claims linked to conditions such as autism, ADHD and anxiety.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has commissioned leading clinical experts to examine whether ordinary emotional distress is being “over-pathologised” and to assess why the number of people receiving sickness and incapacity benefits has grown to 4.4 million – an increase of 1.2 million since 2019.

According to reports in The Times, ministers are particularly alarmed by the surge in the number of 16- to 34-year-olds now out of work because of long-term mental health conditions.

Streeting said he recognised “from personal experience how devastating it can be for people who face poor mental health, have ADHD or autism and can’t get a diagnosis or the right support,” but added that he had also heard from clinicians who say diagnoses are “sharply rising”.

“We must look at this through a strictly clinical lens to get an evidence-based understanding of what we know, what we don’t know, and what these patterns tell us about our mental health system, autism and ADHD services,” he told the newspaper. “That’s the only way we can ensure everyone gets timely access to accurate diagnosis and effective support.”

The review is expected to be chaired by Prof Peter Fonagy, a clinical psychologist at University College London specialising in child mental health, with Sir Simon Wessely, former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, acting as vice-chair.

Prof Fonagy said the panel would “examine the evidence with care – from research, from people with lived experience and from clinicians working at the frontline of mental health, autism and ADHD services – to understand, in a grounded way, what is driving rising demand.”

The move comes as the UK Government faces mounting pressure over the rising welfare bill. Ministers earlier this year pulled back from proposed changes to disability benefits, including those affecting people with mental health conditions, after opposition from Labour backbenchers.

Speaking on Monday, the Prime Minister said a fresh round of welfare reform was needed.

Keir Starmer said: “We’ve got to transform it; we also have to confront the reality that our welfare state is trapping people, not just in poverty, but out of work.”

Health

NHS Trust CEO ‘forced out’ after raising concerns — Welsh Govt denies wrongdoing

Published

1 day ago

December 3, 2025

Tom Sinclair

A CONSERVATIVE MS has pressed the Welsh Government for answers after the sudden departure of the Velindre University NHS Trust’s chief executive, amid media reports that he raised concerns about alleged governance failures within NHS Wales Shared Services.

During Health Questions in the Senedd today, James Evans MS asked Health Secretary Jeremy Miles to explain why former CEO David Donegan left his post after just a year. Reports circulating in recent weeks suggest Mr Donegan had raised issues relating to governance, and in some accounts, possible criminality. These claims have not been substantiated publicly.

Velindre’s own 2024/25 annual report notes that the Trust “escalated concerns to Audit Wales and Welsh Government about the current governance of Shared Services, which hadn’t been reviewed since 2012.” No details of the concerns have been published.

Welsh Government response

Jeremy Miles MS confirmed in the chamber that correspondence relating to the issues does exist, but said it would not be appropriate to release sensitive material while internal processes are ongoing. He did not comment on the circumstances of Mr Donegan’s departure, citing employment confidentiality rules which are standard across the NHS and public sector.

A Welsh Government spokesperson has previously said that they expect all NHS bodies to follow “proper governance and HR procedures,” and that they “do not comment on individual employment matters.”

Velindre NHS Trust position

Velindre has not publicly stated that Mr Donegan was removed because of whistleblowing activity. The Trust has described his departure simply as a “change in leadership” and says it continues to engage with Audit Wales and the Welsh Government on governance matters.

Opposition criticism

After the exchange, James Evans MS — the Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health — criticised the Health Secretary’s “lack of transparency”.

He said:

“I am extremely disappointed with the Health Secretary’s refusal to provide clarity on the circumstances surrounding Mr Donegan’s departure, or to release the correspondence relating to governance concerns within Shared Services. The public must be able to trust that millions of pounds of NHS funds are being managed properly.”

Mr Evans said he will write to the First Minister and Cabinet Secretary formally requesting the publication of correspondence “in the interests of full accountability.”

Context: What is NHS Shared Services?

The NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP) manages national procurement, payroll, recruitment, estates services and other core functions for health boards and trusts. It sits within Velindre University NHS Trust but operates independently of its operational healthcare work. Governance arrangements for NWSSP were originally set a decade ago and are subject to periodic review by Audit Wales.

There is no evidence at present of wrongdoing by the Welsh Government or NWSSP, beyond the concerns referenced in Velindre’s annual report.