- BMA has voted to lobby Government to abolish caps introduced in April
- Limits imposed after some hospitals were paying doctors £3,500 for a shift
- Unions say some locums are now only being paid ‘£25 to £35 an hour’
- Claim wards are being left dangerously understaffed as a result of poor pay
Sophie Borland Health Editor For The Daily Mail
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Doctors have voted to abolish caps on lucrative locum fees claiming they are now earning less than driving instructors and personal trainers.
The Government imposed new limits this year following concerns that some hospitals were paying agency doctors £3,500 for single shift.
But the British Medical Association today voted to abolish the caps, describing them as a ‘death knell’ on doctors’ careers and livelihoods.
They also warned that the limits were worsening the NHS’s staffing crisis leading to ‘bursting AE departments’ and ‘endemic’ rota gaps.
Doctors have voted to abolish caps on lucrative locum fees claiming they are now earning less than driving instructors and personal trainers
One junior doctor claimed the typical locum fees were now between just £25 and £35 an hour, ‘less than a driving instructor and a fitness trainer respectively.’
Jeremy Hunt imposed the caps in April promising to ‘end to the days of unscrupulous companies charging up to £3,500 a shift for a doctor.’
But the BMA claims that the fees are now so low that doctors are refusing to work shifts, leaving wards even more understaffed.
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They also claim the limits are damaging for doctors’ careers as they discourage them from doing stints in other areas, gaining vital experience.
Today’s vote means the powerful union will now lobby the Government to abolish the caps.
Dr Tom Mickleright, a GP trainee from Chester, said: ‘Here are three words to strike fear into the heart of this Government, ‘safe, staffing levels.’
‘Rota gaps are endemic.
‘There is one type of doctor who can help us out here. One type of doctor who at the drop of a hat can help fill gaps for a few hours or a few months.
‘One type of doctor who can work across a hospital and across the country, or at least there was.
The pay caps were imposed by the Government in April after it emerged some hospitals were paying up to £3,500 for locums to cover a single shift
He said following the caps some junior doctors earn £25, whilst slightly more experienced ones are on £35.
‘These are less than a driving instructor and a fitness trainer respectively,’ he added.
‘These caps are a death knell for working outside a training contract
‘We’re already seeing worsening rota gaps, bursting AE departments and exhausted juniors being pressurised into covering the uncoverable.’
Dr Mark Porter, chair of the BMA said: ‘We’re pretty sceptical.
‘The Government has seen high spending on locums and assumed caps are the right response.
‘We know the real problem is resource cuts which have led to the need for more locums in the first place.
‘Some members make a decent, respectable and needed living working as locums. It’s unfair on them and it’s the wrong thing to do for the system as well.’
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