Consultants want up to £262 an hour to cover strike days for junior doctors

Consultants in England want at least three times their basic pay to provide emergency cover for junior doctors during this month's three-day walkout.

The demands have been described as unreasonable by NHS bosses as they try to plug the gaps in emergency care.

The British Medical Association (BMA) is recommending its members ask for £158 an hour to work during the day, rising to £262 for night shifts.

It said it was right to be paid more for work outside the normal contract.

Consultants earn between £88,000 and £119,000 a year in basic pay - that works out at the equivalent of about £42 to £57 an hour in a 40-hour week.

Although average pay is £20,000 higher once extra payments for performance, night shifts and being on call is included.

But during the strike the BMA has advised doctors to ask for:

The BMA said the pay rates should be used by any consultant who is asked to move from their normal speciality or by emergency care consultants who are asked to do extra shifts or fulfil roles normally done by junior doctors.

About 40% of the medical workforce is classed as a junior doctor and two-thirds are thought to be BMA members who will be asked to walk out between 06:00 GMT on 13 and 06:00 on 16 March across both planned and emergency care in their pay dispute.

Junior doctors are calling for pay rises to make up for cuts of 26% since 2008.

Danny Mortimer, the chief executive of NHS Employers, said health bosses had sympathy for the plight of doctors, but that was being "eroded" by the unilateral demands being made for premium pay.

He said NHS bosses had not been consulted on the rates, which are included in the BMA official rate card used for extra hours beyond contracted work.

"If their dispute is with the government with regards to both pay and pensions, it seems unreasonable to act without first seeking any kind of agreement with employers," he added.

The rate card was first introduced last year, the BMA said, after some NHS trusts tried to cap the amount they were willing to pay for overtime.

BMA consultants leader Dr Vishal Sharma said it was right the rate card was used for the strikes.

"We wholeheartedly support and stand in solidarity with our junior doctor colleagues in their industrial action and pursuit of full pay restoration.

"Consultants, having themselves experienced real-terms pay cuts, know all too well the damaging impact pay erosion has on morale and staff retention.

"On strike days it is the responsibility of employers to ensure that services are staffed safely, and they have been given adequate notice of when the action is set to take place.

"The BMA rate card rates are recommended for all work undertaken outside of the normal contract, and they are therefore appropriate to use for covering absent junior doctors as this work is quite clearly extra-contractual.

"These rates therefore reflect the market value of doctors' work."