Performance-related pay for hospital consultants

• Published in: Thoracic surgery clinics Vol. 17; no. 3; p. 425
• Main Authors: Cash, Andrew, Somers, Andre
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.08.2007
• Subjects: Employee Performance Appraisal - economics; Humans; Medical Staff, Hospital - economics; Referral and Consultation - economics; Salaries and Fringe Benefits - statistics & numerical data; United Kingdom
• ISSN: 1547-4127
• DOI: 10.1016/j.thorsurg.2007.07.010

In the United Kingdom there about 300,000 people who earn at least pounds 100,000 per year. These people represent just 1% of U.K. workers. Hospital consultants are in this exclusive earning group, and so they should be. Following a new pay deal in 2003, which enabled consultants to achieve a record average NHS salary of pounds 110,000 in 2006, there is growing momentum to introduce a system of performance-related pay. Such a system could work. Many believe this would create the necessary leverage to get the consultant body to work with the managers to create a robust NHS that is fit for purpose and can compete healthily against alternative providers in an open marketplace. The resolve to achieve this has never been stronger. The NHS has always been dogged by status and power divides between the different groups of workers. The time has come to make some headway with breaking down these divides and get on with running a business. Let's hope the NHS can transform into a place where managers and doctors trust each other and work better together. This would give the 1.3 million people that work in the NHS the best chance of creating a successful business that cares for ill people. The financial and professional rewards will follow.