Row as doctors' pay bill spirals

Doctors in training work long shifts

Hospital bosses are coming under pressure to cut a mounting wage bill for doctors' overtime.

From last month, a new deal for junior doctors forced hospitals whose doctors were working the longest hours to pay exorbitant rates.

Juniors at the top of their pay scale may now get more than their senior colleagues.

The increased demand on the NHS purse has now sparked a row between doctors and managers.

The British Medical Association hit out on Tuesday, claiming managers were accusing them of lying about the hours they worked to get more pay.

Apology

Junior doctors are demanding an apology from Andrew Foster, human resources director of the managers' body NHS Confederation, after his comments were reported in a newspaper.

They say he was claiming juniors were lying about their hours in order to get more money.

Mr Foster has told BBC News Online that his comments had been taken out of context.

He said he had been misinterpreted, but confirmed the scale of the financial crisis hospital managers were facing.

There has been a battle to cut junior doctors hours over a number of years.

An agreement called the New Deal was made in the early 1990s, which aimed to cut juniors' hours to no more than 56 a week by 1996

Many doctors still work more, though estimates of how many vary.

The Department of Health puts the figure at 38%, but the BMA says a questionnaire into doctors hours carried out as part of the new pay deal, will show up to 70% of juniors work over the limit.

Under the new system, the overtime will be paid as a percentage of doctors' salary, depending on how many extra hours they work.

Those who work more than 56 hours will be in the top band of payments.

The old system paid by the hour and could be difficult to claim.

'True extent'

The BMA's junior doctors' committee chairman Dr Trevor Pickersgill said Mr Foster was in effect accusing doctors of "lying for money."

Dr Pickersgill said: "The new pay system is designed to penalise trusts and managers who fail to reduce our hours to levels which are comparable with other professions."

He told BBC News Online the new pay deal was showing the true extent of overtime demands on juniors.

"Junior doctors are being better paid for their out-of-hours work, supporting the NHS at evenings and weekends."

He added: "Throughout the year 39,000 junior doctors help prop up the ailing acute NHS hospital sector.

"And the thanks we get from NHS management are accusations of lying for money.

"This is an outrageous slur on our professional integrity and I demand an apology for this kick in the teeth."

Mr Foster told BBC News Online: "I have been misinterpreted as saying that junior doctors are making up their hours."

He said he agreed with the BMA's argument that the new system would show more juniors than were previously thought were working long hours.

He said: "It was previously much harder for junior doctors to apply for additional duty hours [overtime payments].

"The official estimate is 38%. When this process is finished we will have a much higher percentage than that.

He said the increase in overtime rates was a major incentive for hospitals to cut the number of junior doctors working longer than the 56 hour limit.

He added bringing more doctors into the service and using doctors who are not in training grades would help cut hours for juniors.