The Secretary of State for Health (Andy Burnham): I am responding on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the thirty-ninth Report of the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB), Cm 7837, which has been laid before Parliament today. I am grateful to the chair and members of the review body for their hard work.

For salaried doctors and dentists the DDRB has divided its recommended pay awards for 2010–11 into three groups:

Consultants—0 per cent.;

Registrar grades, specialty doctors and associate specialists (SAS) grades, salaried general medical practitioners (GMPs) and salaried dentists—1 per cent.; and

Foundation house officers (1 and 2) and their equivalents—1.5 per cent.

In addition, the DDRB recommend that a banding multiplier be introduced for foundation house officer 1 posts that only attract basic pay and that this should be set at 1.05 of basic salary.

The Government do not accept that there is a compelling case for the recommended award of 1.5 per cent. for foundation house officers and their equivalents and in line with its evidence believe that all salaried doctors and dentists below consultant level should receive an award of 1 per cent. The remainder of the DDRB’s pay recommendations for salaried doctors and dentists have been accepted in full by the Government.

For independent contractor general medical practitioners (GMPs), DDRB have recommended an increase in contractual payments to practices of 1.34 per cent. designed to result in no increase to GMPs’ average net income after allowing for movement in their expenses. With regard to general dental practitioners (GDPs), the DDRB has recommended a 1.44 per cent. increase in contract values which the DDRB intend to result in no increase in GDPs’ net income after allowing for movement in expenses.

In making these recommendations the DDRB has indicated that it considers efficiency savings made by GP and dental practices should only be taken into account retrospectively, after the scale of these savings becomes apparent in data showing trends in earnings and expenses. The Government do not consider this approach sustainable at a time when most areas of the public sector are having to achieve efficiency savings in order to sustain jobs and income levels. In view of this, and in line with its evidence to the pay review body, the Government have decided to abate the DDRB’s recommendations for GMPs and GDPs by applying a prospective efficiency assumption of 1 per cent. of contractors’ operational costs. This will have the effect of reducing the proposed uplift in the value of contract payments to 0.8 per cent. for GP practices and 0.9 per cent. for dental practices.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmtoday/cmwms/archive/100310...

http://www.nhsemployers.org/PayAndContracts/AnnualPayReview/DDRBevidence...

http://www.nhsemployers.org/Aboutus/Publications/Documents/NHS%20Employe...

http://www.nhsemployers.org/Aboutus/Publications/Documents/NHS%20Employe...