GPs in Wales will receive a one-off bonus payment of £735 to recognise their ‘extraordinary contribution during the Covid-19 pandemic’.
The Welsh Government said the bonus will go to 222,000 people in Wales, including 90,000 NHS Wales staff, over 100,000 social care workers and 26,000 primary care staff such as GPs.
The Welsh Government said the £735 bonus payment will be subject to basic rate of tax and national insurance contributions, and that after deductions most people will receive £500, adding that it is working to finalise the details of the scheme.
In an announcement earlier this month (17 March), health minister Vaughan Gething said NHS and social care staff ‘have shown a remarkable amount of commitment and courage’ throughout the pandemic, and will have suffered an impact on their ‘physical and mental health wellbeing’ as a result.
He added: ‘This payment expresses our gratitude to our NHS and social care workforce for their extraordinary contribution in keeping Wales safe.’
BMA Wales has welcomed the bonus and the ‘acknowledgement of the huge effort of doctors in Wales throughout Covid-19 pandemic’, but has restated calls for an uplift to overall pay.
BMA Cymru Wales chair Dr David Bailey said: ‘Whilst this payment is gratefully received, this is separate and in addition to the DDRB process, which reviews doctors annual pay award, and we reiterate our calls for a significant pay uplift for doctors which would address the real term pay erosion over the past decade’.
Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Social Care proposed a 1% pay rise for doctors in England in 2021/22, which the BMA called ‘a kick in the teeth’.
During a Covid briefing today, Mr Gething reiterated that the bonus is being awarded ‘in addition to’ and ‘not instead of a real pay rise’, adding this is being considered by the pay review bodies. He added that the Welsh Government would, however, not set an ‘arbitrary cap’ on the pay increase.
READERS' COMMENTS [2]
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Equates to a 9 hour locum shift. For a years battering, with your life on the line. Taxed 40%. Pays for the couch roll and extra disinfectant spray I guess. Solicitors, bankers and dentists will be reeling in stitches.
Why is it that hospital Consultants can have private wings on NHS sites, and you shafted GPs on that ability to deliver care?
MPs got £10000 tax free to sit on their bums at home
tell welsh assembly–its not a govt–to stick it as it is an insult
tell em you want £10000 each tax free