Senior NHS doctors in Scotland have decided to accept a £125 million pay deal that will increase their basic salaries by 10.5 per cent, as public satisfaction hits the lowest level since before the millennium.
NHS consultants currently take home a basic salary of £105,504 a year, rising to £139,882 after four years.
The new increase will be retroactive to April 1 and will allow them to earn between £10,000 and £13,500 more each year.
Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray said the package brought the pay of Scottish consultants into line with that received by doctors in other parts of the UK.
But in June, the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey found that less than a quarter (23 per cent) of people were satisfied with the way the health service is run in Scotland.
More than half (52 percent) of the 1,500 respondents said they were (52 percent) dissatisfied.
It represented the highest levels of dissatisfaction since the survey began with the arrival of devolution in 1999.
The Scottish rise comes after the three main unions representing nursing, midwifery and other NHS staff in Scotland confirmed they will accept a 5.5 per cent pay rise.
Senior NHS doctors in Scotland have decided to accept a £125 million pay deal that will increase their basic salaries by 10.5 per cent.
Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray said the package brought the pay of Scottish consultants into line with that received by doctors in other parts of the UK.
Mr Gray said: ‘I am very pleased that the consultants have voted to accept our salary offer.
‘This will ensure our consultant workforce feels valued, supported and fairly rewarded.
“It will bring Scotland back into line with recent pay agreements elsewhere in the UK, ensuring our NHS remains competitive in recruiting and retaining consultants.”
In addition to the 10.5 per cent increase in basic pay, a further £5.7m will be spent on other contractual elements, the Scottish Government said.
BMA Scotland previously said the additional investment meant the offer was equivalent to an 11 per cent increase and recommended members accept the deal.
Dr Alan Robertson, chair of the BMA’s Scottish consultative committee, said: “Overall we consider – and the vote indicates this is shared across the profession – that this year’s pay rise is an important first step to address salary erosion for consultants.
‘It will help keep Scotland an attractive place for consultants to work, improve retention and therefore benefit the NHS and patients whose care is affected because vacancies in the workforce are not addressed.
‘However, there is much more to do and build from here; It’s far from the end of the story.
“We still have ground to make up to restore wages to past levels and recover what we have lost due to poor pay and the impact of inflation.”
In September, junior doctors voted to accept a pay deal after two years of strikes that brought the NHS to its knees.
The Government deal will increase their salaries by 22.3 per cent on average over two years, the British Medical Association (BMA) said.