Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to introduce changes to (a) pay and (b) benefits for (i) doctors and (ii) nurses employed by the NHS.
The independent NHS Pay Review Body and The Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration make annual recommendations on pay rises for National Health Service staff. The Pay Review Bodies are made up of experts and their recommendations are based on a comprehensive assessment of evidence from a range of key stakeholders, including the Government, NHS organisations and trade unions.
We have reached multi-year pay and contract reform agreements deals for Agenda for Change staff (2018/19 – 2020/21) and Junior Doctors (2019/20 – 2022/23) and negotiations are under way for a multi-year agreement with Specialty and Associate Specialist doctors.
The NHS reward package is about much more than basic pay and includes benefits that go well beyond the statutory minimum, for instance, generous holiday allowance and access to a much-valued pension scheme. We want to ensure that the NHS employment offer continues to attract and retain the compassionate and dedicated staff the NHS needs and this offer continues to be kept under review.