Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make a comparative assessment of the level of the proposed night time premium under the new junior doctors' contract with the night time premium for (a) airline pilots, (b) fire fighters, (c) police officers, (d) consultants and (e) nurses, midwives and physios.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Under the new contract the night time premium proposed for junior doctors means that they will be paid a higher supplement rate than consultants and nurses in the National Health Service and significantly more than other public sector employees.
| Night Window | Payment |
Junior doctors | 9pm-7am or until the end of the night shift up to 10am | Time + 37% |
Consultants | 7pm-7am | 4 hour Programmed Activity is reduced to 3 hours, effectively time + 33% |
Nurses | 8pm-6am | Time + 30% |
Airline Pilots* | 1am-7am | Time + 14-17% for captain |
Police Officers* | 8pm-6am | Time + 10% |
Firefighters * | n/a | Shift duty covers shifts 24 hours, 7 days. No premia |
*Income Data Services study
Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate how many consultants earn more than the Prime Minister.
Answered by Philip Dunne
It is estimated that 8,000 consultants earn more than £142,500. This figure relates to the earnings of consultants employed by the NHS Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) in England, and is based on NHS Earnings Estimates and Workforce Statistics published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).
Sources: HCHS Consultants earnings figures based on statistics published by the HSCIC, from NHS Electronic Staff Record data, in NHS Staff Earnings Estimates to December 2015. The NHS Electronic Staff Record is the HR and Payroll system used by almost all National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts in England. HCHS Consultant numbers published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre in NHS Workforce Statistics.
Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the proposed new junior doctors' contract on reducing rota gaps.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The new contract is part of the solution to rota gaps. It contains protections that mean that safe working hours will be enforced and light will be shone on rota gaps by the Guardian of Safe Working Hours reporting to the Board of each trust. Where action is not taken, this will be escalated to the Care Quality Commission, the General Medical Council and Health Education England. These protections simply do not exist in the current contract. In terms of covering rota gaps, no junior doctor can be asked to work more than an average of 48 hours a week and cannot work more than an average of 56 hours a week if they opt out from the Working Time Directive. The new contract rules for instance on rest periods and consecutive night shifts also apply to any additional work done.
Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the proposed new junior doctors' contract on ensuring safe working hours.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The new contract includes stronger limits on working hours and patterns of work and a robust oversight mechanism to ensure that prompt action is taken if needed. This will be an integral part of how trusts meet their statutory obligations to keep staff and patients safe. Required action includes a review of work schedules to ensure safe working, payment for additional work done and fines where the limits in the contract are breached. There are no such protections under the current contract. For instance, at present, junior doctors can be asked to work up to 91 hours a week, up to seven night shifts in a row and every weekend under the current contract. The Guardian of Safe Working Hours will be tasked with ensuring that rotas reflect the hours that juniors work and they are within the new contractual limits.
These limits under the new contract are a maximum of 72 hours per week (compared to 91 currently), and the limit on average weekly hours will remain 48 hours (and be limited to 56 hours where a doctor opts out of the Working Time Regulations).
Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much basic pay will increase for each grade under the proposed new junior doctors' contract.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Pay for Foundation 1 doctors will be 15% higher than the current basic starting salary.
Pay for Foundation 2 doctors will be 8% higher than the current basic starting salary.
The new basic starting salary for Specialty Registrars at ST1 will be 19% higher than the current basic starting salary.
The salary for those at ST3 will be 32% higher than the current pay point for those progressing through training without delay.
The overall increase for all juniors is over 10%.
Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many guardians of safe working have been appointed to NHS organisations; and what the responsibilities will be of those roles.
Answered by Philip Dunne
177 out of 217 trusts had appointed Guardians of Safe Working Hours as at 4 September 2016, with interim arrangements in place in a further 14 trusts; meaning 88% have arrangements in place. NHS Improvement is aiming for appointments or interim arrangements to be in place for all 217 shortly.
The Guardian of Safe Working Hours will act as the champion of safe working hours for doctors in approved training programmes and ensure that action is taken to ensure that the working hours within the trust are safe. They will provide assurance to the trust board or equivalent body that doctors are safely rostered and are working hours that are safe and in compliance with the Terms and Conditions of Service (TCS). The Guardians will also record and monitor compliance with the restrictions on working hours stipulated in the TCS, through receipt and review of all exception reports in respect of safe working hours.
Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average earning rate is of graduates who studied medicine 10 years after graduation; and if he will make a comparative assessment of that level of earning with the average earning rate of (a) all, (b) mathematics and computer science, (c) law, (d) economics and (e) nursing, midwifery and physiotherapy graduates.
Answered by Philip Dunne
A study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in April 2016 looked at graduate earnings 10 years after graduation.
Only economics and medicine graduates are outliers with much higher earnings than would be expected given A-level performance as compared with their peers in other subjects.
Selected graduate earnings (£000s) by subject of degree (includes those without earnings)
| Female | Male | ||||
| Percentile | Percentile | ||||
| 20th | 50th | 90th | 20th | 50th | 90th |
Medicine | 23.7 | 45.4 | 68.8 | 33.0 | 55.3 | 84.7 |
Maths and computer science | 3.3 | 22.0 | 53.3 | 6.4 | 26.8 | 57.5 |
Law | 4.8 | 26.2 | 62.8 | 3.5 | 30.1 | 79.5 |
Economics | 20.3 | 38.2 | 93.9 | 6.6 | 42.0 | 121.4 |
Subjects allied to medicine | 4.2 | 22.1 | 40.6 | 7.1 | 27.9 | 49.1 |
Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of consultants earn above (a) £100,000, (b) £125,000, (c) £150,000 and (e) £175,000 per annum.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The figures for 2015 are shown below.
These relate to the earnings of consultants employed by the NHS Hospital and Community Health Service in England, and are based on NHS Earnings Estimates published by NHS Digital.
Annual Earnings | Percentage Earning More |
£100,000 | 66% |
£125,000 | 33% |
£150,000 | 14% |
£175,000 | 5% |
Source: Consultants’ earnings figures are based on statistics published by NHS Digital, from NHS Electronic Staff Record data, in NHS Staff Earnings Estimates to December 2015. The NHS Electronic Staff Record is the HR and Payroll system used by almost all National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts in England.
The figures are based on the total earnings in 2015 of consultants in the NHS hospital and community health services who worked for the full year, regardless of their working hours, i.e. includes both full-time and part-time workers. Equivalent figures are not available for general practitioners, because most provide services through commissioning rather than direct employment.
Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make a comparative assessment of the earning distribution of hospital and community health service doctors to the earning distribution of workers in professional occupations.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The best available comparison, for 2015, is shown in the table below. The Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) Doctors figures relate to the earnings of doctors employed by the NHS Hospital and Community Health Service in England, and are based on NHS Earnings Estimates published by NHS Digital. General practitioners are not included. The All Professional Occupations figures represent the earnings of all employees nationally in Professional Occupations, as published by the Office for National Statistics.
Percentile | All Professional Occupations | HCHS Doctors |
10 | £15,331 | £45,000 |
20 | £22,168 | £52,500 |
30 | £26,557 | £61,500 |
40 | £30,465 | £73,500 |
Median | £34,076 | £87,500 |
60 | £37,467 | £99,500 |
70 | £41,675 | £110,500 |
80 | £47,506 | £124,000 |
90 | £59,320 | £144,500 |
Sources: All Professional Occupations earnings statistics published by the Office for National Statistics, from its 2015 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
HCHS Doctors earnings figures based on statistics published by NHS Digital, from NHS Electronic Staff Record data, in NHS Staff Earnings Estimates to December 2015. The NHS Electronic Staff Record is the HR and Payroll system used by almost all National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts in England.
Both sets of figures are the estimated total earnings in 2015 of employees who worked for the full year, regardless of their working hours (i.e. this includes both full-time and part-time workers).
The All Professional Occupations group covers occupations whose main tasks require a high level of knowledge and experience in the natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, social sciences, humanities and related fields. The main tasks consist of the practical application of an extensive body of theoretical knowledge, increasing the stock of knowledge by means of research and communicating such knowledge by teaching methods and other means.
Most occupations in this major group will require a degree or equivalent qualification, with some occupations requiring postgraduate qualifications and/or a formal period of experience-related training.
Asked by: Kevin Foster (Conservative - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make a comparative assessment of the average earnings for hospital and community health service doctors and the average earnings for workers in professional occupations in each age band.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The best available comparison for 2015 is shown in the table below. The figures are for doctors employed by the NHS Hospital and Community Health Service in England (HCHS) and are based on NHS Earnings Estimates published by NHS Digital. General practitioners (GPs) are not included. The All Professional Occupations figures represent all employees nationally in Professional Occupations, as published by the Office for National Statistics.
Age Range | All Professional Occupations | HCHS Doctors |
22-29 | £28,958 | £41,390 |
30-39 | £36,456 | £61,885 |
40-49 | £40,603 | £94,470 |
50-59 | £40,138 | £112,924 |
60+ | £32,564 | £96,629 |
Sources: All Professional Occupations earnings statistics published by the Office for National Statistics, from its 2015 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
HCHS Doctors earnings figures are based on statistics published by NHS Digital, from NHS Electronic Staff Record data, in NHS Staff Earnings Estimates to December 2015. The NHS Electronic Staff Record is the HR and Payroll system used by almost all National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts in England.
Both sets of figures are the estimated mean average total earnings in 2015 of employees who worked for the full year, regardless of their working hours (i.e. this includes both full-time and part-time workers). The figures do not include GPs.
Equivalent figures are not available for GPs, because most provide services through commissioning rather than direct employment.
The ‘All Professional Occupations’ group covers occupations whose main tasks require a high level of knowledge and experience in the natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, social sciences, humanities and related fields. The main tasks consist of the practical application of an extensive body of theoretical knowledge, increasing the stock of knowledge by means of research and communicating such knowledge by teaching methods and other means.
Most occupations in this major group will require a degree or equivalent qualification, with some occupations requiring postgraduate qualifications and/or a formal period of experience-related.