FD pay cut challenged
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- Published: Friday, 04 July 2014 06:27
- Written by News Editor
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The British Dental Association (BDA) condemns Government plans to impose a pay cut on foundation dentists (FDs) of more than £2,000 from September, and will be exploring all legal avenues to challenge this decision. Chair of the Principal Executive Committee, Mick Armstrong, said: “seeking efficiency savings from FDs is inappropriate, and unfairly penalises young dentists who are not in a position to resist this pressure”
Following a consultation on the issue, the Department of Health has confirmed that the pay cut will apply to FDs in England. It is also expected to apply to trainees in Wales and Northern Ireland. The BDA believes that targeting young dentists with a pay cut of eight per cent at the start of their careers is a cynical move that exploits the most vulnerable members of the profession.
The attack on FD salaries is expected to generate minimal savings for the NHS relative to the potential hardship it creates for dental graduates who are emerging from universities with an average debt of around £25,000. The BDA opposes any pay cut to FD salaries. We also believe that current final-year students have been placed in an intolerable situation where they will be forced to accept a financial arrangement that they were not aware of when they first applied.
The Department of Health’s justification that the pay cut brings dental salaries in line with their medical equivalents simply does not add up, the BDA believes. With the opportunity to earn additional NHS income, medical trainees at the same point in their career earn on average nearly £40,000, compared to this new salary of £28,076 for foundation dentists.
Chair of the British Dental Association’s Principal Executive Committee, Mick Armstrong, said: “We have made clear to the Department of Health on numerous occasions that seeking efficiency savings from FDs is inappropriate, and unfairly penalises young dentists who are not in a position to resist this pressure. This is a view that is widely shared by the profession as we know from the 6,700 signatories who responded to our petition opposing these cuts. We are both angry and disappointed over the failure to grasp the strength of feeling against these cuts, which frankly many see as an attempt to prey on the most vulnerable members of the profession. It is also unacceptable that these young dentists have been given ridiculously short notice of this change. We will be seeking expert legal opinion to explore options to challenge this decision.”
The BDA’s campaign to oppose the cuts has won strong support on Twitter, where the BDA is encouraging tweets using the hashtag #DFTPay, and on the BDA’s Facebook page. Dental professionals can still add their names to a petition opposing the reduction in the salary paid to FDs.
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