The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care, my noble Friend Baroness Merron, has made the following written statement:
I wish to inform the House of the Government’s plan to continue with the reform to death certification and introduce a statutory medical examiner system on 9 September 2024. By law, all deaths will become subject to either a medical examiner’s scrutiny or a coroner’s investigation. The changes will put the existing medical examiner system’s obligations, duties and responsibilities on a statutory footing. Regulations were laid on 15 April 2024 including the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death Regulations, the Medical Examiners Regulations and the National Medical Examiner (Additional Functions) Regulations, and will come into force on 9 September 2024.
The changes will put the bereaved at the centre by providing an opportunity for them to raisequestions or concerns with a senior doctor not involved in the care of the deceased. This will improve practice and communication, support the right deaths being referred to coroners for further investigation and help deter poor practice and criminal activity.
The introduction of medical examiners is part of a broader set of reforms to death certification, coronial and registration processes. We are working closely across Government to ensure we are supporting the professions involved with relevant communications and guidance. This will be published on 9 September when the reforms come into force.
Today I am accepting the recommendations of the NHS Pay Review Body, the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration and the Senior Salaries Review Body. This means that 1.5 million NHS staff in England will receive a significant pay rise backdated to 1 April 2024. For staff directly employed by NHS providers, this will be funded by NHS England through system allocations.
I am grateful to all the chairs and members of the NHSPRB, the DDRB and the SSRB for their reports that recognise the vital contribution that NHS staff and leadership make to our country. I am accepting their pay recommendations in full, re-committing to financial prudence and fair uplifts for public servants.
The NHSPRB recommended a 5.5% increase to all Agenda for Change staff, alongside other recommendations for a funded envelope for structural reform. In accepting these recommendations, we have committed to:
Uplifting all pay points for AfC staff (c.1.3m staff) by 5.5% on a consolidated basis, taking effect from 1 April 2024.
Adding intermediate pay points at AfC Bands 8a and above.
Working with the NHS Staff Council to take forward the PRB's recommendations on AfC pay structures.
Recognising the role of the NHS Staff Council, we are accepting the second recommendation regarding the addition of intermediate pay points to bands 8a and above in principle but are asking the NHS Staff Council to ratify it before it is implemented. We want to work with the NHS Staff Council on issues with the AfC pay structure, so we will work with stakeholders on the third recommendation.
I am pleased to be able to inform the House that today I have made a formal offer on pay for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 financial years to the British Medical Association’s Junior Doctors Committee for doctors and dentists in training in England. The BMA, which represents these staff and other unions in negotiations, will recommend the offer to their members.
I am pleased to have been able to make this offer fewer than four weeks after becoming the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. I said during the general election campaign that I would get around the table with unions and find a way to resolve industrial action. This is a promise made, and a promise kept.
Under the offer, doctors and dentists in foundation and specialty training will receive:
an average investment of 4.05% into 2023-24 pay scales effective from 1 April 2023, with a payment to reflect backpay; and
a further consolidated uplift of 6% + £1,000 in 2024-25, in line with the recommendations of the Review Body on Doctors and Dentists Remuneration (DDRB).
If accepted this will mean an average pay uplift of 22.3% in basic pay for doctors and dentists in training over the past two years.
The Government will instruct the DDRB to change the approach they take when considering pay for doctors and dentists in training from 2025-26.
The Government have also committed to improving the current exception reporting process and to working in partnership with the BMA and other health organisations to reform the current system of training and rotational placements.
The DDRB recommended a 6% increase to salary scales, pay ranges and the pay elements of contracts from 1 April 2024. It also recommended that an extra £1,000 be added to the pay points for doctors and dentists in training. In accepting these recommendations, we have committed to:
uplifting pay points for doctors and dentists in training (c. 73,000 doctors) by 6% plus £1,000 on a consolidated basis (an average of around 8.2% increase in pay);
uplifting the salaries of consultants (c.61,000 doctors) by 6% on a consolidated basis;
uplifting the pay range for salaried General Medical Practitioners (c.15,000 doctors) by 6% and uplifting the pay element of the GP contract by 6% on a consolidated basis (an increase of 4% on top of the 2% interim uplift in April);
uplifting the pay element of the General Dental Practitioners contract (c.24,000 dentists) and the minimum and maximum pay scale for salaried dentists by 6% on a consolidated basis;
uplifting the pay scales of specialist and associate specialist (SAS) doctors on all contracts by 6% on a consolidated basis.
The SSRB recommended an increase of 5% for all executive and senior managers and all very senior managers in the NHS in England from 1 April 2024, which we have accepted. The Government are still considering its approach to the recommendation to have a four-week turnaround on pay cases for VSMs and ESMs and so cannot confirm acceptance at this time.
These recommended uplifts are broadly in line with private sector earnings growth.
The previous Government neglected public sector pay for 14 years, and now we are resetting our relationship with public sector workforces. We will take further steps to restore confidence in the pay-setting process. We are accepting those recommendations, and will reform those public services, to deliver our missions.
The reports of the DDRB, the NHSPRB and the SSRB will be presented to Parliament and published on gov.uk.
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This offer would increase the base salary for a full-time doctor starting foundation training in the NHS to over £36,600 compared to around £32,400 before this offer was made. A full-time doctor entering specialty training would see their basic pay rise to over £49,900 from around £43,900 before this offer was made.
If this offer is accepted, the BMA will withdraw the rate card for doctors and dentists in training in England with immediate effect, and the current trade dispute with doctors and dentists in training will end.
The BMA will now begin the process of consulting their members on the offer. The BMA JDC and its officers will recommend that members accept this deal, and I strongly encourage members to do so. I will update the House on this matter in due course.
From September, I will refer to this group of doctors as resident doctors. This is the preferred nomenclature of the BMA, and an important sign of a new collaborative relationship between the medical profession and the Government based on a firm foundation of mutual respect.
Separately, I want to inform the House that this Government will also honour the offer made by the previous Government to the BMA Specialists, Associate Specialists, and Specialty Committee for SAS doctors. The BMA’s SAS members voted to accept the offer during the pre-election period.
These commitments come alongside the publication of the pay review body reports, on which I have updated the House separately.