A new reward system for NHS consultants

For the last two years, NHS Employers has been conducting negotiations and facilitating co-design of a new reward system for consultant doctors in England, as part of the joint negotiating committee for consultants (JNC (Seniors)).
Parties to the negotiations included representatives of the two trade unions representing consultants, the British Medical Association (BMA) and the HCSA, representatives from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England and NHS Improvement.
NHS Employers' representation was delivered with the support of a team of workforce directors and senior managers from four NHS trusts.
Our shared aim was to agree a sustainable reward system that makes the best use of the £430 million available nationally every year to invest in new awards (from 1 April 2022) and the maintenance of existing awards (those secured before 1 April 2018).
Negotiations have now finished and despite the best efforts of all those involved, it has not been possible to reach a mutual agreement on the design of a new reward scheme.
The framework agreement drawn up by NHS Employers was rejected by both trade unions, citing a number of concerns which could not be resolved. These included national funding investment commitments, local variability in available funds across trusts and a number of other flexibilities in application, which we could not commit to prescribing or making contractual.
We hosted a webinar on 15 February 2022 to present the outcome of negotiations and to provide an outline of what happens next.