Consultants object to government's action

The chairman of the BMA's Central Consultants and Specialists Committee has written to all consultants in the United Kingdom pointing out that the government has singled out consultants from all other groups in the public sector by declining to implement “a highly significant recommendation which recognises the particular workload pressures that the consultant body is under.”

Earlier this month the government decided not to accept the recommendation of the doctors' review body that =A350m should be available annually from 2000 to reward individual consultants for increases to their workload (6 February, p 347). It said that it would consider the proposal in the light of the negotiations on a new consultant contract. The health secretary said, “We are willing to make an investment in rewards and incentives if the negotiations deliver a better service to patients.” Dr Peter Hawker has called the action “unnecessarily provocative.”

In his letter Dr Hawker points out that the review commissioned two independent reports on consultants' workload. These provided substantial …