Jessica O'ConnorThe British Medical Association (BMA) has described the Government’s suggested 2.5% pay increase for doctors in 2026 as “indefensible”, arguing it would amount to a real-terms pay cut amid ongoing workforce pressures across the NHS.
The figure was included in the Government’s written evidence to the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body (DDRB), which advises ministers on pay for medical staff.
The proposed uplift equates to an additional 47p per hour for newly qualified doctors, based on current pay rates.
BMA council chair Dr Tom Dolphin said the recommendation fails to reflect the scale of pay erosion and workload increases experienced by doctors over the past decade.
He said: “It is frankly indefensible that yet another Government is once again suggesting real-terms pay cut for doctors – an increase of less than 50p per hour for many newly-qualified doctors.
“After more than a decade of pay erosion, spiralling workloads, and an NHS in a state of near chaos, this is a deliberate choice to devalue those who hold the health service together, a profound disregard for our doctors and the state of the profession.
“This is not responsible governance; it is a calculated decision to let a vital profession bear the cost of political failure. Each sub-inflation offer pushes more doctors to leave the NHS or the country altogether, and it is patients who ultimately pay the price for this foolishness.”
Dolphin continued: “At time when so many resident doctors are struggling to secure training posts and GPs cannot get jobs – a shocking waste of talent in a system that is chronically short of staff – we have ministers who think it is acceptable to pay the doctors we do have an insult, rather than a decent wage. The Government’s failure to provide fair pay, adequate positions for doctors in training, and jobs for GPs exposes a complete lack of long-term planning or respect for the profession.
“After hard-won reforms by consultants to restore the independence of the pay review body, the BMA wants to see that independence come to the fore when the DDRB makes its recommendation for doctors’ pay in 2026, we expect the DDRB to recommend an uplift that is just that and not a pay cut.
“For this Government to even consider recommending what amounts to a pay cut isn’t prudence; it’s neglect dressed up as restraint.”
The Government’s submission argues that pay decisions must balance workforce retention with broader fiscal responsibility.
The DDRB is expected to make its formal recommendations for 2026 pay awards next year.
