The Department of Health and Social Care has recommended a 2.4% pay uplift for dentists and doctors in England, which has been criticised as being ‘below inflation’ by professional bodies.
In its recommendations to the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) for the 2027 to 2028 pay round, the DHSC said it is currently planning for a pay uplift of 2.4% ‘without having to make trade-offs against headline government health commitments’.
Anything above this figure would lead to the DHSC having to look further within its budgets and would ‘inevitably have an impact on healthcare delivery’, it said in today’s publication.
The British Dental Association has said the proposed uplift 'offers no increase in real pay whatsoever'.
The British Medical Association has criticised the recommendation, saying it ‘beggars belief’ that the Government is applying a real-terms pay cut while waiting lists are continuing to grow.
The Government makes recommendations to the independent pay body, which then makes own recommendations after hearing evidence from professional bodies, including the British Dental Association.
While the Government’s 2.4% uplift recommendation applies to all medical and dental professions within the NHS in England, the DDRB does not have to follow the Government’s request and can even award different uplifts to separate professions.
However, the DDRB has tended to go along with the Government’s request and ministers can ignore the pay body’s recommendation if they so wish. Once the DHSC has decided on the uplift, it applies this to the NHS contract following negotiations with the BDA and other groups on what percentage of the contract goes towards pay.
In its recommendation, the Government said: ‘DHSC has developed financial and delivery plans that currently plan for a pay uplift of 2.4% without having to make trade-offs against headline government health commitments.
‘Should the independent pay review bodies recommend an award above this level, we would need to consider whether and how this could be made affordable from within existing DHSC budgets. Accepting such an award would inevitably have an impact on healthcare delivery.’
Responding to the Government’s publication, the BDA stressed it 'lacks any confidence that current processes will deliver the necessary total uplift to contract values to achieve anything other than a pay cut for dentists'.
BDA Chair Dr Eddie Crouch said: 'The Government claims it wants to "match resources to need" in NHS dentistry.
'It is impossible to see how it achieves that, with what amounts to a pay cut for dentists already thinking twice about their futures.
'This document talks of tough choices and trade-offs. The reality is reheated austerity here will have a lasting impact for millions struggling to access care.'
BMA council chair Dr Tom Dolphin said: ‘It beggars belief that at a time when patients are being treated in hospital corridors and car parks, people are waiting too long for a GP appointment and the Government’s pledge to bring down waiting lists is stalling, ministers are saying doctors deserve a pay cut.
‘Cutting pay is not the way to tell a workforce you value them, and doing so will do nothing to keep doctors in the country and the NHS, working to improve the experience of patients and performance of services.
‘The pay review body, the DDRB, will face a test of its independence, and we urge its members to consider what the NHS and patients really need, rather than be hamstrung by a Government telling them it is not prepared to invest properly in the medical workforce.’