Junior doctors’ strike costing cash-strapped hospitals millions of pounds per day to cover shifts
HOSPITALS are spending millions of pounds per day covering striking junior doctors’ shifts.
Consultants are being drafted in at rates costing ten times more than usual.
It is further draining budgets that were already under the cosh.
Thousands of British Medical Association (BMA) junior doctors walked out for the third time last week.
It caused “enormous disruption” as they continue to demand a 35 per cent pay rise.
A Sun probe found 54 out of 126 major NHS hospital trusts paid a combined £32.5million to cover shifts over seven days of strikes in March and April.
Data from 25 reveal the wage bill was £10.5million more than if junior doctors had worked.
The true cost across England could be five times higher, with an excess bill of around £50million — or £7million a day.
Tory MP Paul Bristow, a member of the Commons health committee, slammed the costs as “unacceptable”.
He said: “The idea junior doctors can shrug their shoulders at money like this being wasted beggars belief.”
Junior doctors are paid £47,000 per year on average, equal to £180 per day.
Some hospitals have to use consultants who can demand a junior’s day rate every hour.
Seven days of extra labour has hit some trusts with bills up to £1.3million, Freedom of Information requests revealed.
The BMA said: “This data shows it would be far more cost-effective for the Government to pay doctors what they are worth.”