Hospital doctors in Essex given one week’s notice of pay cut – BMA

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By Sarah Lowden

Doctors in Essex have entered a formal dispute with their hospital trust over short notice changes to their pay for extra contractual work, the British Medical Association has said.

The union claims that staff at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSEFT) have been given just one week’s notice of cuts to the rate for work they do over and above their working week.

The changes were announced on 4 November and took effect on 11, according to the BMA.

The trust said it was “absolutely right” that it should “regularly review the rates that it pays” to ensure that it is “spending public money responsibly”.

‘Trust is gambling’

However, the union said wards are “barely staffed as it is” and doctors are concerned that offering "unfair pay" to work extra evenings and weekends to fill rota gaps will put “more strain on the system”.

The BMA has said its members working for MSEFT already get paid lower rates than doctors at many other trusts in the region, and has advised resident doctors and consultants not to accept extra work at the reduced rates.