How will the resident pay deal impact portfolio careers?

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By Alec Collie

Intense workloads and uncertainty over pay are driving more clinicians to pursue work outside the NHS – but for many, the balancing act is getting increasingly unsustainable. How the new pay deal factors in.

Many doctors will be breathing a sigh of relief at the long-awaited pay agreement reached last week.

The response across the profession has been mixed, however, with some welcoming it as a major step forward and others warning it does not go far enough. The BMA has been explicit that it views the deal as an important step towards pay restoration, rather than the end of the process.

More than two thirds of UK doctors have already embarked on a “portfolio career” - balancing NHS work with other employment

A key feature of the deal is the provision of 4,500 extra training places for newly qualified doctors. On the surface, this is a positive measure aimed at reducing competition for training posts. However, critics have highlighted the lack of an equivalent commitment on consultant posts or other senior roles once training is completed. This raises the question of how systemic workforce challenges will be tackled without a clear route for progression into senior posts.