London weighting ‘frozen for 20 years’, says BMA as it launches campaign

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By Daniel Pye

The British Medical Association has launched a campaign to increase London weighting for the first time since 2005.

Currently the additional payment separate from basic salary is £2,162 for inner London, £527 for outer London and £149 for fringe areas.

In the last two decades, house prices have risen by 112%, rent by 128%, tube costs by 82% and childcare in the capital by 133%, with the payment “effectively frozen for more than 20 years,” the BMA said.

The union is calling for full parity with NHS colleagues on Agenda for Change rates which grant a higher London weighting. It calculated that if doctors’ payments were equivalent, for inner London they would receive £8,245, outer London £6,137 and fringe £2,061.

The campaign is for doctors across grades and employment arrangements represented by the union. GPs have different contractual and funding arrangements, so the union said it would provide further information on how to address London weighting for these doctors.