CBS Response to 'Doctors paid up to £200,000 overtime to tackle NHS backlog'

08 November 2024

The response from the UK’s sole trade union for surgeons, anaesthetists and the surgical team; the Confederation of British Surgeons (CBS - www.cbsgb.co.uk); to “Doctors paid up to £200,000 overtime to tackle NHS backlog”

According to consultant neurosurgeon and CBS Board member Alistair Jenkins;

"Surgeons are asked by their Trusts to take on this work, as a response to growing waiting lists - it's not that they go out looking for it. In fact, many surgeons do not take up these offers at all. And clearly surgeons aren't going to do extra work in their free time for nothing; the rates are not set by the surgeons themselves but by the government, via the Trusts.

“It is easier and much cheaper to throw manpower at the waiting list problem than to tackle the real challenge of increasing ward bed numbers, operating theatre space and permanent staffing, so that the backlogs are not created to begin with.

“And of course this is another factor that is likely to add to consultant burnout. Despite the ‘reward’ of more money, the stress is still there – with even less time to enjoy any leisure.”

Surgeons report only being able to do one case in an all-day list due to cancellations, or lack of beds – when they were able to do five previously. Others complain that when they sometimes finish weekday lists early and have the capability to perform further procedures, they are hindered by a lack of beds and then are expected to remain until the end of the day, despite no operating being possible.

Conversely, other complaints include management cancelling cancer patients in the afternoon, in case they don’t ‘finish by 6’. This is very destructive to the morale of vocationally motivated surgical teams.

The Confederation does welcome recent comments by Wes Streeting on the Today programme on Radio 4 (7.53am) regarding this issue.

According to consultant plastic surgeon and CBS President Mark Henley;

“Despite rather histrionic press coverage over the last several weeks, we do welcome Wes Streeting’s reasonable stance that the Health Service needs proper reforms to get maximum benefit for the investment - but that’s only going to happen when (all) members of the clinical team are made to feel like valued professionals, and given consideration rather than be made to feel just jobsworths filling gaps, as I suspect the majority of our members have experienced in their NHS practices.”

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