NHS pay decision prompts anger from medical profession

The latest update to the government's pay policies for NHS staff has been met with anger, disappointment and strike threats from representatives of the medical industry.

Despite an pay review body recommending that all NHS staff should get a one percent consolidated pay rise, more than half will not do so under the new plans, with the coalition opting instead for a staggered increase in additional income.

Organisations such as the British Medical Association (BMA), Royal College of Nursing and Royal College of Midwives have reacted with fury to the new policy, which they claim will equate to a pay reduction in real terms, once rising living costs have been accounted for.

RCN chief executive and general secretary Dr Peter Carter said the decision will damage morale at a time when medical staff are expected to maintain care standards on increasingly limited budgets.

Meanwhile, trade unions such as Unite, GMB and Unison have threatened that strike action could take place soon in protest over the latest development.

Dr Mark Porter, chair of the BMA Council, said: "If we are going to meet the challenges the NHS faces head on, the government should be working with, not against, those doctors on the ground."