Consultants on the NHS

There's a lot of good points in this post from NHS Blog Doctor.

The majority of consultants work hard, and work longer hours for the NHS than those for which they are contracted. The media may choose not to believe it. Alice Miles clearly does not believe it. Patricia Hewitt certainly did not believe it.

Nonetheless it is true.

And this is why the new NHS contract has cost the blessed Patricia so much money. She set the time and motion men on these lazy, skiving, golf-playing consultants. She knew what they were up to. You are paid for a forty hour week. Now we are actually going to measure what you do and that is what we will pay you for. Not a penny more, not a penny less. The measurements showed that the consultants were doing far more work than their contracted forty hour week. And so they all got pay rises. The blessed Patricia was hoisted by her own petard.

Read the whole thing.