14.01.11
BMA rejects ‘pay increment freeze’ jobs deal
The BMA has joined health unions in rejecting a no-redundancies deal that would have seen a two-year freeze in pay increments.
In its formal response to NHS Employers, the BMA said its members had given an “overwhelming reponse” against the proposed national framework deal, which would still have had to be settled locally in each organisation.
Unions earlier said they did not trust local managers to abide by the proposed no-redundancies deal, as reported on NHE.com.
Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of council at the BMA, said: “Obviously these are difficult times and NHS staff are already working extremely hard to provide services as efficiently as possible. At a time of rising inflation, their pay has been frozen for two years, and this latest proposal would amount to a further, severe real-terms cut. While bankers are to be allowed to continue to receive massive bonuses, it is absolutely perverse to penalise the dedicated and hard-working staff who keep the NHS running. The service is about to undergo an expensive re-structuring, and there are many other areas where savings could be made in the NHS, such as the costly Private Finance Initiative.”
NHE Employers said: “Employers have told us they want to do everything possible to avoid redundancies. This deal provides a great opportunity to protect jobs for NHS staff and provide continuity of care for patients.
“This proposal is still on the table.”
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