SENIOR doctors are at loggerheads with NHS bosses over claims their pay for vital work carried out at weekends and evenings has been slashed by as much as 16 per cent.

The British Medical Association has entered a “formal dispute” with the Mid and South Essex NHS Trust and claims doctors were given just one weeks notice over the move to cut pay for “extra contractual work”.

As a result the union claims doctors are not being paid fairly to work extra evening and weekends to fill rota gaps, adding that wards are “barely staffed as it is”.

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Starting December 1, doctors at the trust have been advised to not work outside their contracted hours for the reduced rates until the trust withdraws the changes and negotiates with the association.

The trust, which is currently battling a £66million deficit, has said that it is “absolutely right” that it regularly reviews their rates of pay.

Dr Fia Muratib, deputy chair of the BMA’s regional resident doctors committee and rep from one of the affected hospitals, said: “Cutting waiting lists relies on doctors willing to take on extra work on top of their contracted hours. We know as of September 2024 there were 166,315 people on the waiting list to start treatment at Mid and South Essex NHS Trust.

“It’s incomprehensible the trust would now slash pay for this vital work. By lowering the rates for these shifts, the trust is gambling doctors will do the same work for less. If they’re wrong this will lead to understaffed wards, burned out doctors, and increased risk to patient safety.

“We urge the trust to withdraw their reduced rates as a matter of urgency and enter into negotiations with their local negotiating committee.”

A spokesman for campaign group Save Southend NHS said: “We are dismayed but not surprised such action has had to be launched by the consultant body against this unwise decision from the trust to reduce rates to what is actually by far the lowest rates in the region.”

Christine Blanshard, chief medical officer at Mid and South Essex NHS Trust, said: “The safety of patients is always our top priority, which is why we must spend the money we have available to us in an efficient and responsible way to ensure the highest possible standards of care.”