Doctors paid £200,000 overtime to tackle NHS backlog

Senior doctors are charging the NHS premium rates for overtime, arsenic unit to chopped waiting lists is allowing immoderate to marque much than £200,000 a twelvemonth from further work, a BBC News probe has found.

That is astir treble the mean basal wage for a full-time advisor successful England.

Many of the consultants earning the astir are thought to beryllium part-time, allowing them to enactment important amounts of overtime for rates exceeding £200 an hr – much than 4 times mean pay.

NHS England said hospitals had to connection rates that were competitory with the backstage sector.

But the British Medical Association (BMA), the doctors' union, pointed retired the NHS would not person to trust truthful overmuch connected overtime were it not for staffing shortages.

And hospitals said covering for onslaught days and sickness had besides been factors.

The findings travel arsenic the authorities invests much wealth successful the NHS, to summation the fig of appointments and operations it tin connection – a cardinal predetermination committedness made by Labour.

As portion of the Budget, the chancellor said the NHS would person an other £25bn this twelvemonth and adjacent – with reducing waits a priority.

A cardinal portion of Labour’s program is for unit to enactment evenings and weekends, to chopped the backlog.

But the BBC News probe raises concerns astir whether this attack tin present worth for money.

One elder NHS root said: “Consultants clasp each the cards – they cognize we cannot marque advancement connected the backlog without them."

The root said consultants were successful a "pretty unsocial presumption compared to different staff" due to the fact that their contracts meant they could opt retired of play enactment and past complaint immoderate their infirmary was consenting to wage for overtime.

They said it was not successful the BMA's interests to renegotiate these "outdated" contracts, much than 20 years old.

"What worries maine is that the overtime costs are going to support expanding with the request to tackle the backlog and this volition breed resentment among different NHS unit who often enactment overtime for small more,” the root said.

They added that the NHS needed to prosecute much consultants, inquire different unit to instrumentality connected immoderate of their enactment and put successful technologies specified arsenic artificial quality to lighten the load.

BBC News utilized Freedom of Information requests to infirmary trusts and information supplied by NHS England to uncover what consultants moving beyond their contracted hours was costing the NHS:

• The wide overtime measure deed astir £1bn successful 2023-24, up from £512m 10 years ago, albeit immoderate of that emergence is related to much consultants being employed
• Six successful 10 consultants enactment beyond their contracted hours, with mean other wage topping £27,000 a year
• At slightest fractional of the 41 infirmary trusts that responded to BBC News are present paying immoderate of their consultants much than £100,000 successful overtime

In 2023-24, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust paid 4 consultants from its medicine speciality much than £100,000 successful overtime payments.

One earned conscionable supra £208,000 successful overtime for 128 days work.

And during those shifts, their wage averaged £188 an hour.

The spot said “in communal with astir NHS trusts”, it had to trust connected overtime payments to “manage waiting lists and to screen rota gaps and vacancies” and covering strikes had placed it nether added strain.

Medway NHS Foundation Trust confirmed it had paid 3 radiologists, who diagnose and dainty patients utilizing scans and tests, much than £150,000 successful overtime – 1 of whom had earned supra £200,000.

It said shortages successful this tract meant it had to wage premium rates, sometimes connected a scan-by-scan basis.

NHS Frimley Health Foundation Trust paid 2 consultants successful its endoscopy department, which provides interior examinations, much than £180,000 each successful overtime, to tackle the backlog successful treatment.

The spot said: “We’re focused connected ensuring we ever supply worth for wealth - and thing we walk is successful proportionality with the payment it brings to our patients.”

NHS Humber Health Partnership, which runs 5 hospitals, paid 3 consultants betwixt £185,000 and £240,000 successful overtime.

Chief aesculapian serviceman Kate Wood said the overtime spending had helped money other operations astatine weekends, to trim waiting lists.

“We measure the costs of these shifts against the risks of not having cover," she said.

"We person enactment diligent information archetypal arsenic that is our cardinal focus.

"This is not thing that is unsocial to us.”

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust paid 3 consultants much than £100,000 successful overtime, including 1 who earned conscionable supra £198,000.

Managing manager Stephen Collman said the spot was trying to trim “premium payments” wherever imaginable but the request to screen sickness lack and vacant posts meant to support services “running safely and effectively” it had nary option.

Some hospitals said overtime rates had been driven up implicit the past twelvemonth by the peculiarly precocious rates the BMA had told its consultants to inquire for to supply onslaught cover.

"It created a caller anticipation of what they should get," 1 authoritative said.

But BMA advisor co-leaders Dr Helen Neary and Dr Shanu Datta said: “Unfortunately, a declining workforce successful situation and spiralling diligent request - which has led to entity precocious waiting lists - means that other hours of enactment are indispensable to get the occupation done.”

They pointed retired overmuch of the overtime was done during unsocial hours, adding these were “highly-trained and experienced professionals” truthful it was tenable for them to worth their clip “at due rates”.

Danny Mortimer, of NHS Employers, which represents hospitals connected employment issues, said: "In airy of the hard fiscal presumption of the NHS, wellness leaders are trying to carnivore down connected extra-contractual premium wage rates."

But determination were nary casual solutions arsenic consultants played a "critical role" successful tackling waiting lists.

And an NHS England authoritative pointed retired the usage of agencies, which could beryllium adjacent much expensive, was falling.